Hell's Iron Blooded Assistant
by Stryker. AJ
Summary: Mikazuki did assume that he would be reborn after his death on Mars. But he didn't exactly think that he'd be reborn as a Sinner in Hell, working for the 8th Demon of Ars Goetia. Ah well, it could be worse...
1. Final day of life

So this was what dying was like.

To wonder what dying felt like was a… morbid curiosity to say the least, though Mika did always think of it in one way or another.

Perhaps it would hurt a little, with just a bit of pain right before his life was snuffed out… or perhaps the complete opposite. Perhaps he would suffer a lot before he succumbed to his death, something he did suppose he deserved at least a little. He was no saint, not by a longshot, so at least _some _suffering wouldn't be a surprise.

For a long part of his life, the young man never stopped wondering. He wished to live… though morbid curiosity was always a strong thing, and so he kept wondering every so often .

And now, as he sat in the cockpit of the _Barbatos Lupus Rex_, bloodied, battered and barely alive, he finally understood what it felt like.

It felt… normal.

In spite of his injuries sustained by the Dainsleif bombardment and the current state of his Mobile Suit, Mikazuki didn't really feel any pain. If anything, he felt a small sense of euphoria. It was perhaps due to blood loss, or perhaps it was because he knew that everyone he loved would get a chance to see another day, but whatever the reason was… Mika didn't think much about it.

"_Tell me, why do you fight?!"_ demanded that woman over the damaged intercom of _Barbatos_, sounding agitated as she fought his Mobile Suit with all her might, snapping the pilot out of his mild trance as he turned his unit's optical units up towards its opponent, the _Reginlaze Julia_.

A heavily damaged mess, _Barbatos Lupus Rex_ looked as though it would fall apart at any moment as it stumbled away from the _Reginlaze Julia_, holding its single arm up to block a handful of shots aimed directly at its head unit. Even so, the unit still held strong in spite of the punishment it was being subjected to.

"_You, who __**barely **__clings onto life! Why do you still fight?! Surrender and you may still be spared!"_

Surrender… tempting, but no. There was no such thing to Mika. And to be spared? Ludicrous. He was no expert on the human body, but he knew that there was no saving him at this point. He was bleeding out fast, and he had a feeling that the only thing keeping him together was the surge of data being given to him via _Barbatos' _Alaya Vijnana system. Besides, even if he did somehow survive his injuries… what would happen thereafter? His execution, no doubt. So why even bother?

"Surrender… be spared? What… are you talking about?" muttered Mikazuki weakly through his damaged comm-links. The _Reginlaze _noticeably stepped back at that as _Barbatos Lupus Rex _got upright unsteadily. Its tail dragged along the ground, creating a small chasm in the earth in the process, before it moved to hover above and behind _Barbatos'_ shoulder. That, combined with its glowing red optics and its overall damaged chassis gave it a rather menacing appearance, to say the least, though the _Julia _didn't let it deter her.

"_You are mortally wounded! Desist and surrender! You will be given proper medical attention and trialed under the just hand of Rustal Elion! There is no longer any reason for you to fight!"_ proclaimed the _Reginlaze's _pilot, pointing her blade at _Barbatos_, who stumbled just a bit as it fell to one knee, forcing it to use its remaining arm to keep itself from toppling over. There was no response from Augus, and the _Julia's _pilot thought that she was getting to him.

And then, he scoffed.

"I… have always had a reason to fight," muttered Mika hoarsely as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the damaged _Gusion Rebake Full City _squeeze a _Graze _in its scissor shield. It made him smirk just a little as he forced _Barbatos _back up onto its feet, ignoring the sound of the unit's joints giving way as he and turned it towards the _Reginlaze_. "Even… now… so close to death… I will still…"

A trio of _Graze _units moved to back the _Reginlaze Julia _up, though the _Reginlaze's _pilot noticeably flinched as she turned to warn them to get back.

"I will still **fight**."

And right as she could scream those words out, _Barbatos Lupus Rex _sprung up into the air and leapt straight over the _Reginlaze Julia_. The _Reginlaze's _pilot could only scream one last time for her fellow _Gjallarhorn _pilots to get back as it landed directly on top of a _Graze_, activating its heel pile bunker and puncturing the _Graze's _cockpit.

"_YOU BASTARD!" _proclaimed the second _Graze _as it attempted to strike the damaged Gundam with its halberd. However, right as those words left its pilot's mouth, the _Lupus Rex _was upon it. The single arm of the _Lupus Rex _stopped the halberd in the middle of a swing, shocking its pilot enough to throw it off guard. And, with a swift gesture, it bisected the _Graze _via its waist with its tail.

The third and final _Graze's _pilot was stunned by the level of brutality, long enough for _Barbatos _to get up close and jam its clawed hand into its cockpit. The _Reginlaze Julia _could only watch in horror as _Barbatos_ jammed its claw into the _Graze's _cockpit. In spite of its damaged joints, it managed to lift it over its head and throw it off to the side, inadvertently ripping out the spinal unit of the _Graze _in the process.

"_You…" _was all the _Julia's _pilot could mutter out as the _Barbatos _turned to stare at her, still gripping the severed spine and head units of the _Graze_, the mere sight causing her to flinch. _"You monster…" _

"I… will fight for _them_. I will never… stop," muttered Mikazuki, either having ignored or not heard her comment as several joints within his unit began to combust. The damage sustained by his unit were massive, and despite its efforts, his Gundam would not last much longer. "I will fight… until my last breath… for their safety… for their future…"

"_Even at the cost of yours?!"_ demanded the _Reginlaze Julia's _pilot, the shock being very much apparent in her voice. Her answer was given to her as soon as the _Barbatos _boosted towards her, launching its tail towards her in the process.

The tail had lost its strength before it could even reach her, however, as it began dropping down to the ground before it could get within range. The _Julia _opened fire on it a handful of times to make sure that it was truly destroyed before opening fire on _Barbatos_, and in its weakened state, the Gundam was torn apart rather easily by her shots. And, by the time it had reached the _Julia_, _Barbatos _had lost both its remaining arm and its balance as it stumbled towards the _Reginlaze_.

The _Reginlaze _took a stab at _Barbatos' _cockpit as soon as it was in range, with said cockpit fell apart upon contact, and its pilot widened her eyes when she realised…

"_He's… dead…" _

And yet… in spite of all that, Mikazuki Augus had died with a smile.

'_Those who die will be reborn… someday, right?'_ were the final thoughts of the pilot as his lips curved up into a small smile.

'_I hope to see you in our next lives… Orga…"_

* * *

And yet… he didn't take into account the fact that he was wrong…

Being reborn was something that was rather common… though what he was reborn into was… not what he expected, to say the least.

* * *

**Why did I write this?**

**Well, I blame FortressHunter for igniting my interest in Hazbin Hotel. It's HIS FAULT. WRYYYYYYYY**

**But yeah… Iron Blooded Orphans X Hazbin Hotel. A novel idea for sure… hope you enjoy? I know I did while writing the prologue and chapter one.**

**Honestly there's not much else to say. So see y'all next time!**


	2. First day in Eternal Damnation

Strange… wasn't he dead?

_Mikazuki Augus_ could've sworn that his life had ended near the end of the battle he had with that enemy Mobile Suit. He had bled out within the cockpit of his unit… and by all accounts, he should be dead.

And yet… here he was, apparently still alive.

Was he reborn, perhaps? That much was unlikely. If he was, he probably wouldn't retain any memory of… well, anything in his past life with Tekkadan, much less his final moments in his Gundam. Perhaps he was still alive… though of course that didn't make sense either, as he wasn't in a prison cell. As things were, he was simply standing upright, wearing almost everything he had in life minus his Tekkadan jacket, in some fancy room that reminded him quite a bit of a fancier part of Teiwaz. The interior was mostly red, with strange symbols decorating the walls… symbols that were vaguely familiar to Augus…

Wait… he was standing?

Blinking in mild shock, Mikazuki turned and saw that he was, indeed, standing upright. The rather off putting thing, aside from the fact that he was standing anyways, was… well… how his legs looked.

Simply put, his legs appeared to be somewhat mechanical, resembling _Barbatos' _inner frame to some extent. His actual legs appeared to be the inner frame of the Gundam, with a white armour plating covering them. Said white armor plating greatly resembled _Barbatos Lupus Rex's _outer leg plates, complete with the green lights that were on the knees. Hell, even his feet were that of _Barbatos Lupus Rex's_, complete with golden claws and the pile bunkers on his heels. His new feet did make balancing a little awkward, though he did manage.

Rather unfortunately for his (lacking) fashion sense, his long pants were torn apart at the knee to make way for his lew legs, he supposed.

Raising his leg upwards, Mika found that he could move it as well as he could before the battle with the Mobile Armour. If he concentrated hard enough, he found that he could move those claws on his new feet rather easily as well, and if he concentrated further, he could even activate his Pile bunkers.

'_That the fuck…' _was the main thing that ran through Mika's mind as he absentmindedly raised his right arm… and widened his eyes further.

Like his legs, Mikazuki's once immobile right arm was now also capable of moving… and it greatly resembled the right arm of _Barbatos Lupus Rex_. Much like his legs, the 'inner frame' of his new arm felt as though it were his actual arm while the white armour that covered it greatly resembled the outer armour of _Lupus Rex_. A shoulderpad that looked a lot like _Lupus Rex's_ hung rather lazily over his right shoulder, and his new oversized right hand was that of the _Lupus Rex_, golden claws and everything.

Staring at his shoulder, Mikazuki noticed how his new right arm seemed to be attached to his torso via a handful of metal tendrils fused into his skin, making it look almost like a mechanical infection of sorts.

"What the fuck…" muttered Mika out loud as he rubbed his new right arm with his regular arm. Despite its mechanical nature, Mika could still feel his fingers rubbing over it, prompting his confusion to grow further.

Then he heard it… a strange… noise from behind him, prompting the former pilot to turn on his heel and spot… well, a man. An elderly one at that

Said man was about two entire heads taller than Mikazuki. If he had to guess, Mika would assume that he was around Akihiro's height. The man was dressed in an attire that Mikazuki was not familiar with, though Augus did take note of the fancy hat he had on atop his curly dark brown hair and that beard… it was gorgeous.

As soon as he noticed Mika staring at him, the bearded man smirked and opened his mouth, only to start speaking out in a language that Mika was unable to understand, prompting him to tilt his head just a little to the side and scratch the back of his head with his new _Lupus Rex _arm, only to wince when he felt the absurdly sharp claws of his new hand glide over his skin, prompting him to wince.

After he made sure that he wasn't bleeding, Mikazuki turned back towards the man before him, who seemed to realize that he was unable to understand him, prompting him to roll his eyes and, rather dramatically, snapped his fingers.

As soon as they were snapped, Mikazuki felt his eardrums pop ever so slightly, prompting him to rub his left ear with his regular hand in confusion and forget about the guy in front of him for a brief moment.

"Better?" inquired the man before him, now speaking in Mikazuki's native tongue somehow, smirking rather cockily as Augus turned towards him with an even more confused expression, an expression that turned rather unreadable within a handful of seconds as the guy in front of him smirked wider in amusement. "Tell me, do you understand me now?"

Opening his mouth, Mikazuki got ready to reply to the man's question with one of his own, though before he could, the bearded man smirked and pointed at him in a rather dramatic fashion.

"Your next line shall be: _who are you?_" predicted the man with a smirk.

"Who are you?" echoed Mika, only to wince in surprise at that. As for the man, his smirk widened in satisfaction, though Mikazuki's irritated glare did lessen it ever so slightly prompting him to clear his throat and continue speaking.

"I would predict your next line once more, but it would seem as though you have nothing more to say until I reply," observed the man as he approached Mikazuki, who remained defensive as he did. The boy dodged out of the way as the bearded man attempted to place a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to chuckle as he tugged on his beard in amusement. "Don't be such a prick! I don't wish to hurt you, Mikazuki Augus! I'm simply here to welcome you!"

"...welcome me?" muttered Mika as the man smirked behind his beard, opting to not wonder why this guy knew who he was, prompting Augus to wince a little in the process. Mika winced once more when the man before him spread his arms in a rather comical yet welcoming fashion, as though he were a businessman welcoming his new partner to his new job.

"Yes, Mikazuki! Welcome to Hell!" welcomed the man with a friendly smirk, and at that, Mikazuki's shoulders slouched down in a form of shock. "I am the one to welcome you here! I go by many names, including the Eighth Member of Ars Goetia or Barbados, for some reason. They named an island after me, you know! I hear the people there call it Bim for whatever reason… or Bimshire. Strange, is it not?"

As he spoke, the guy realized that he was probably confusing Mika a little more than he intended to, prompting him to clear his throat and get to the point.

"Ah, but allow me to get to the point, little Mikazuki. Please do overlook all those nicknames and simply call me _Barbatos_! "

And following that… there was silence, with Mika remaining as he usually was while the guy claiming to be Barbatos rubbed his beard as he smirked.

For the most part, Augus simply kept his gaze firmly locked onto the one claiming to be Barbatos, seemingly judging his sincerity, while the alleged devil who stood in front of him waited quietly, having anticipated for his poker face to turn into a shocked expression the moment he had told the pilot about who he really was. He had predicted that Mika would lose his calm demeanor and ask if he really was a demon or if he was truly in Hell, and his already wide smirk grew in anticipation for that.

And for perhaps the first time in his long life, Barbatos' prediction was incorrect.

"So I won't be reborn since I'm in Hell?" was all Mika could ask at that point, sounding just a bit on edge but not totally shocked, much to Barbatos' surprise as the alleged devil raised an eyebrow to show his confusion. Not quite the reaction he was hoping for… but sure. He'll roll with it

"Nope! At least not in the way you were hoping for, at least! You won't be reborn in the way you were hoping for… but you _have _been reborn, however… as a Sinner who shall suffer in Hell for all of eternity!" confirmed Barbatos as he slapped Mika on the back rather chummily, an act that made Augus flinch just a little as he turned to stare at the devil claiming to be Barbatos. "The place for those who committed atrocities so fiendish and diabolical that they have _no hope _for redemption! You, for example, killed many who could be considered innocent in one way or another, so here you are! Enjoy your eternal stay!"

Once again, Barbatos had predicted Mikazuki to give some sort of reaction outside of his usual poker face as soon as he had processed that new bit of information. And once again, he was let down as the Pilot nodded rather absentmindedly.

"I see," was all he could mutter out as he clenched and unclenched his new _Lupus Rex _arm, still a little confused by the whole ordeal. And for a brief moment, he fidgeted a little as he allowed the situation he was in to sink in. The pilot remained silent for a long while he rubbed his new right arm thoughtfully, unsure of what to make of this situation, though after a short while…

"Your next line shall be!" proclaimed Barbatos…

""Why are my arms and legs like that…(!)"" finished/proclaimed both Mikazuki and Barbatos in near unison, and as soon as they were done, Augus shot the Demon a confused and slightly annoyed glance as Barbatos laughed out loud in smug confidence.

"Ahaha! Never gets old," muttered Barbatos as he wiped a fake tear off his cheek. "Well, allow me to explain, little Sinner! Whenever a person comes down to Hell, they'll undergo a physical transformation of sorts! If I had to guess, your transformation had something to do with that mechanical monstrosity you pilot so often! In a way, you sold your soul to the devil by simply connecting to it, so now, even in death, the _Lupus Rex_ haunts you!"

No response from Mika, who frowned mildly as he stared at the Devil in confusion. Vice versa, Barbatos eyed Mika with a wide grin, having predicted Mikazuki's next line by the time he began to part his lips.

"Now, you shall ask if any other Tekkadan members are here, hmm?" predicted Barbatos as he stroked his beard cheekily, and instead of echoing his prediction, Augus just nodded as he closed his mouth, prompting the devil to chuckle in spite of his mild disappointment of Mika not echoing his prediction. "I frankly don't know! Honestly, I simply sucked your soul here because I found you interesting!"

The tilt of Mika's head told Barbatos that he was confused, prompting him to elaborate.

"You see, little pilot, I've been watching you for quite some time. Don't ask how, please. Such secrets are not to be shared!" explained Barbatos as he began pacing around Mikazuki rather dramatically, with the Sinner staring at him all the while. "Call it mild curiosity or whatever, but something about watching you and your feeble group of fellow Iron Blooded Orphans wander around, causing chaos all in the name of bettering your company gets my blood pumping! Especially the times where you snuffed out another man's life with your weapondary! Oooooh, the _lack _of humanity!

"And to add the icing on the cake, a majority of the atrocities you've committed were with these big ass robots named after the 72 Demons of Ars Goetia, no less! Ah, such coincidences are hard to come by! Imagine the shock on _Gusion's _face when he saw that he went from a frog looking thing to a four armed beast! Or _Flauros _lying about not loving that pink colour! She's such a prick at times, I tell you! Ah… good times."

"...that doesn't explain why you took my soul in particular," pointed out Mika after some time, prompting Barbatos to chuckle.

"I expected you to say that!" proclaimed Barbatos with a sly smirk, prompting Augus to grumble softly as he attempted to cross his arms, something that didn't exactly work too well. "The _real _reason as to why I plucked your fragile little soul here is because of your final words before death!"

"...final words?" echoed Mika as he tilted his head a little to the side.

"Why yes! Aside from the things you've done, your final words before death intrigued me!" confirmed Barbatos. "You fought not for yourself, but for those whom you hold dear! Your undying passion to protect the remainder of your pathetic little boot camp interested me just enough to wish to finally speak to you personally… and for me to wish to _offer _you something!"

Mikazuki's raised brow was a sign to the 8th Demon of Ars Goetia to continue.

"You see, Mikazuki Augus," continued Barbatos as he stroked his beard. "Though I may be a Duke of Hell, I do not hold much power. While it is true that I command thirty legions of Demons and have four Kings by my side," Barbatos paused for a while to perhaps see a potentially impressed look on Mika's face, only to continue when he realized that wasn't happening, "I still get lonely! The assistants that I have by my side can barely get anything dirty done, and hiring outside help is a real chore! Sometimes I crave a good assistant with good work ethic and resolve!"

"So?" groaned Mika, not exactly getting what Barbatos was getting at.

"So, I wish for you to become one of my personal assistants in Hell! Your achievements and exploits in life have shown me that you are exactly what I need to help with the dirty work I wish to do in this damn place!" finished Barbatos, and this time, Mikazuki did at least look somewhat surprised at the offer. The mildly shocked expression was something Barbatos savoured just a little before he continued speaking. "Now, this offer is simple! You simply need to help me tell people to fuck off if what they ask for is unreasonable!"

"And?" continued Mika, narrowing his eyes at the Devil. He's lived long enough to know that most deals had more details to them. And considering how Barbatos was a devil… Mika was more than convinced that there were more things tied to his offer. And lo and behold… he was correct, as Barbatos' smirk grew in size.

"As perceptive as always, Mika! That's what I like about you! Though you seem unobservant 90% of the time, your perception is just as sharp as your stone cold facade!" proclaimed Barbatos, prompting Mika to snort a little in apparent self congratulation. "The other segment of this deal is that you will have to do a handful of favors for me as well!"

"Favors?" echoed Mika, tilting his head just a little as he flexed his _Lupus Rex _hand, still getting used to the mechanical nature of his new limb.

"Indeed! I'm a Hellborn Demon, after all, and you're a Sinner! By default, you're one rank beneath me, so you're, let's just say, the bottom while I'm the top!" explained Barbatos, who stopped his pacing and kept his back turned towards Mikazuki, who was just a little confused at that analogy though he didn't comment on it. "I'll have you run errands from time to time! But don't worry, it's all simple shit! You'll get used to it in no time!"

"What kind of errands?" inquired Mika as Barbatos chuckled, seemingly reading his mind as he continued on.

"Oh don't worry! I have plenty of other Servants who can help me with the boring stuff like reading diplomatic crap from the other Demons or performing research!" assured Barbatos as he turned his head to glance at Mika. "What _you _will be doing is the messy work! Helping out certain rowdy clients I get from time to time, sweeping the floors, rejecting people who want to perform various sexual acts with me and the occasional assassination. All that good stuff!"

"...hm. What's in it for me?" muttered Augus, casually glossing over that last part as quickly as Barbatos did.

"Simple, my child! As mentioned before, I am a Duke of Hell. And as such, I have quite a bit of power on my side. Not the most, but enough to guarantee that you'll live a mildly comfortable life and that you'll survive the yearly exterminations!" proclaimed Barbatos proudly, with Mika taking note of that yearly extermination part, though he didn't ask about it just yet. "You'll be paid as well! Just think of this as Tekkadan once more and me as your new Orga!"

Mikazuki noticeably grimaced when Barbatos suggested he be his new Orga, though he didn't voice that out either as the demon offered his hand.

"So, have we a deal?" inquired Barbatos, his grin growing impossibly large as he brought his hand towards Augus. As for the Sinner, he simply stared at his own regular hand and back at Barbatos, who seemed to radiate a rather devilish aura as he awaited his response from Augus. The 8th Demon of Ars Goetia remained very confident that Mikazuki would shake his hand.

And then…

"No."

Blinking in mild shock, Barbatos lowered his hand as his smile faltered, with his devilish aura swiftly dissipating. That unexpected answer caused the devil to raise a brow in confusion.

"Say what now?" began Barbatos, only to be cut off by Mika.

"I may be in Hell, but I still work for Tekkadan. Even if the company is dissolved, my loyalty remains with them," said Augus as Barbatos sighed in frustration, assuming that he had done all this for nothing as he got ready to snap his fingers. Before he could, however, Mikazuki continued on speaking. "But I'm willing to work with you."

"Really now?" quipt Barbatos, his smirk reappearing as he lowered his hand. Mika replied with a nod.

"Ah. But I won't pledge any loyalty to you," answered Mika as he slid his regular hand into his pocket. "I'll do what you ask, but I am also free to leave you whenever I want. Consider it a partnership between Tekkadan and whatever company you're running."

"Hm, you're smarter than you let on, kid," mumbled Barbatos, feeling rather impressed as he rubbed his chin. Though before long, he nodded as he shrugged casually as Mika pulled his hand out of his pocket, disappointed at the lack of raisins. "But ah, what the heck! It's all the same! I accept your terms and conditions!"

And with that Mikazuki nodded as Barbatos led him out of the room they were in, oblivious to the fact that had he shook that hand, he would've quite literally spent his afterlife as a nearly mindless slave to the devil that his dear Mobile Suit was named after.

* * *

**Why yes… two chapters in a day. **

**I actually did write three chapters, but it's best if I didn't upload all three at once. I'm actually finishing up on this before I head off to college.**

**Anyhow, as you can see, this chapter introduces, well Barbatos. His appearance is based off how he looks in actual Ars Goetia demonology, his more popular appearance anyways.**

**As for Mikazuki's new look, you can simply imagine him as his usual self but with his entire right arm and both his legs (from below his knees) replaced with Barbatos Lupus Rex limbs. Hopefully this 'demon' appearance is good to you guys. Hopefully… **

**By the way, is it pronounces Ars Gay-Tee-Ya or Ars Gee-Yo-Tee-Ya? Leave your answer in the reviews!**

**Alright so I got nothing else to really babble on about. See ya!**


	3. Surprise Visit

What a strange person Mikazuki was.

Barbatos was no stranger to Sinners. As one of many Dukes of Hell, he commanded enough power to have at least some servants by his side, most of which were Sinners. However, as Barbatos and the newly arrived Tekkadan ace pilot walked through the halls of his castle, which despite its massive size, was considered small by Hell's castle standards, the Duke couldn't help but smirk at just how different Augus was to every other Sinner he knew of.

Ever since he began observing the adventures of Tekkadan, with the help of an immediate group of professional murderers and a fellow Demon of Ars Goetia, Barbatos had always found himself intrigued by the young pilot of the mecha named after him. Mikazuki was a contradiction, to say the least. He was honourable yet boorish, polite yet rude, a charisma vacuum and yet quite the sweet talker… if that one _spicy incident _inside the cockpit of the _Barbatos Lupus Rex_ had told him anything.

'_Best if I didn't speak of that,' _thought the bearded demon as he covered up a smile, catching Mikazuki's attention for a brief moment.

Of course… Barbatos did find little Mika just a bit more interesting now that he was speaking to him in person. While not as powerful as, say, his dear friend _Sitri_, he still commanded a lot of power and thus, a whole lot of respect. One of his many abilities included a rough prediction of the future, with his predictions being true almost all the time.

And yet, here Mikazuki was, having gone against his prediction… twice! It showed that this child was something special and a keeper, to say the least!

That, and the absolute balls of this kid. To not just turn down quite a tempting offer, but to also flip the switch and provide Barbatos with a compromise. The 8th Devil of Ars Goetia was usually not one to be played, not even by Andras, a member of the 72 Demons that was quite well known for sowing discord, so this was very impressive indeed!

"Oi, Barbatos," came Mikazuki's voice, snapping the demon in question out of it as he turned to see Mika staring down at his _Lupus Rex_ arm, still rubbing it rather curiously. At first, Barbatos thought that he was just hearing things, though before he could turn his head back, Mika continued speaking. "You said something about Sinners and Hellborn. What do they mean?"

"Oh! Those terms, eh?" replied Barbatos, laughing ever so slightly as he stroked his beard. "Those terms are simple, my dear Pilot. Sinners refer to humans who have been cast down to Hell for eternal damnation while the Hellborn are demons who were… well, born in Hell!"

"So I'm a Sinner, and you're a Hellborn," concluded Mika as he stared down at his _Lupus Rex _hand, clenching and unclenching it curiously as he spoke.

"Well duh. There's also the Overlord Rank, though I'm not quite there yet. I'm part of the Goetial Demons, you see," quipt Barbatos as he slapped Augus on his regular arm, causing him to stare up at him in annoyance. On the other hand, the demon chuckled heartily. "You feeling naked, kiddo?"

"...just a bit," admitted Mika as he tugged on his sleeveless blue shirt rather absentmindedly with his regular hand. Now that Barbatos had brought it up, he has been feeling just a little naked without his Tekkadan jacket…

"Your next line shall be: _"Where's my jacket?"_," predicted Barbatos as he pointed at the pilot in a familiar and oh so dramatic fashion. "Touyu!"

"Where's my…" began Mika, only to shut up halfway through and give Barbatos a slightly annoyed glare. Before he could groan out loud, however, Barbatos snapped his fingers, and within seconds, a rather familiar jacket materialised in his hand.

"Jacket, as in this one?" quipt Barbatos rather cheekily as he handed it off to his new servant, who swiftly grabbed it from Barbatos and stared at it in apparent relief before slipping his left hand into its sleeve. As for his _Lupus Rex _arm, Mika opted to leave it out. It would be a challenge to slide it into his jacket's sleeve, anyways. And besides… it probably wouldn't fit…

"Your next line shall be-"

""Thank you(!),"" said/proclaimed Mika and Barbatos at the same time, much to Mika's annoyance and Barbatos' amusement. He has yet to lose his touch!

And for a brief moment, the two simply walked in silence as Mika struggled to get used to wearing his jacket with only one arm. Barbatos, admittedly, found his efforts to be amusing, though he didn't voice them out as he opted to watch in silence, at one point smirking in amusement as the jacket slid down his new assistant's shoulder, prompting the pilot to silently readjust it. He hid it well, but Barbatos could quite clearly see the irritation in his eyes as he did so…

"Master Barbatos!" came a rather new voice behind both Mikazuki and the 8th Duke of Ars Goetia, prompting the two of them to turn and spot what Barbatos confirmed to be an Imp rush at them. While Mika himself was just a little taken aback by its appearance, especially the red skin and long horns, Barbatos himself remained passive as he watched one of his servants approach him, seeming somewhat skittish.

"What is it,_ Relard_?" groaned Barbatos, rolling his eyes as he eyed the imp who had called for him with a mildly irritated glance. The Imp, Relard as Barbatos had called him, chuckled mildly as he cleared his throat, though Barbatos cut him off before he could explain himself. "I'm busy introducing a new Sinner to his position, so make this short! Chop chop!"

"Well… sir, you see… _Lucifer _and _Lilith Magne_ both decided to pay a surprise visit… and they're wondering why you're not greeting them in person since you can… y'know, predict the future?" replied Relard with a sheepish chuckle. And at that, Barbatos widened his eyes and turned to face Mika, who seemed just a little confused.

"Lucifer and Lilith… Magne?" muttered Mika in confusion, just barely managing to pronounce the names given as he stared at Barbatos in confusion. His confusion quickly turned into mild shock, however, when Barbatos struck a comically shocked pose.

"The King and Queen of Hell themselves are visiting?!" proclaimed Barbatos immediately after, prompting Mika to tilted his head off to the side as he stared up at the demon while Relard jumped back in surprise.

"Y-Yes, my lord!" confirmed the Imp, though before he could say anything else, Barbatos seized Mikazuki by the shoulder and shook him rather hard.

"**OH NO**! Mikazuki Augus, let us depart!" proclaimed Barbatos, catching Mika off guard as he spoke. "A visit from the King and Queen of Hell itself is an amazing way to have you grow accustomed to your new surroundings and position here in Hell!"

And with those words uttered, Barbatos grabbed onto Mikazuki's _Lupus Rex _arm and began dragging him off to parts unknown to the former Pilot, who nearly fell over on multiple occasions.

Meanwhile, Relard just watched as they departed, unsure of what else he should do. Before long, however, he opted to just head off and perhaps get something to get high off.

Perhaps that _Angel Dust _brand powder would do the job…

* * *

**Elsewhere **

"It's usually uncommon for Barbs to be late!"

And at that, Lilith Magne simply rolled her eyes as she watched her husband pace around the main hall of Barbatos' castle, having become used to her husband's mild complaints by now. Being married to someone for over a century would do that to you, she supposed. And frankly speaking, Lucifer's complaints were amusing to listen to.

"Calm down, dear. Everyone has their blind spots," soothed Lilith as she approached her husband and patted him on the back of his spiffy white suit. In response to that, Lucifer turned to give his wife a mildly comical pouty face, one that made him look like a clown and not the all powerful ruler of Hell. His white face topped with those naturally red cheeks he had, and combined with that genuinely ridiculous tophat he refused to remove unless absolutely necessary, didn't help with the clown comparisons. "Barbatos probably got too caught up in trying to sweet talk Sitri that his future sight failed him."

"Not demonically possible!" protested Lucifer as he turned to face his wife, seeming close to a minor breakdown as he spoke, his usually massive smile now inverted into a very, _very _sad frown, prompting Lilith to roll her eyes once more in amusement before tugging on her black dress. As she did, her husband continued his rather comical complaints, with Lilith busying herself with brushing her massive horns as she absentmindedly listened. "Barbatos would never be late. Neeeeeeever…"

If anything, Lucifer was probably extremely lucky that his wife was as tolerant of his antics as she was.

And finally, right as Lucifer appeared to begin to lose all his patience and right before Lilith reached the end of her own, the door closest to the main hall burst open, and Barbatos sprinted out, dragging what Lilith assumed to be a Sinner behind him.

"M-MY KING! I APOLOGISE FOR MY TARDINESS!" apologised Barbatos as he and his escort came to a stop before the King and Queen. Lilith simply nodded understandingly while Lucifer went from ecstatic at seeing one of his oldest friends in Hell to confused as he rubbed his chin and stared between the Sinner and the 8th Demon of Ars Goetia. "My King… is something wrong?"

"WHY YES THERE IS, BARBATOS!" proclaimed Lucifer as he flailed his arms around in a truly amusing manner before suddenly stopping and assuming a _slightly _more regal pose. At that, Barbatos seemed to tense up while the Sinner raised a confused eyebrow, watching the antics of the King of Hell with amusement.

And then…

"HOW COULD YOU KEEP THE FACT THAT YOU HAD A SON AWAY FROM US?!"

And things went silent at that, with Barbatos and his Sinner assistant staring at Lucifer with bewildered and deadpanned expressions respectively, and for Lilith to hold back a mild chuckle. Though he was the King of Hell, there were times where her husband really showed a lack of understanding of a handful of simple concepts…

"M-My King… this is Mikazuki Augus!" introduced Barbatos as he gestured towards the Sinner, who remained mostly passive as he looked between the King and Queen of Hell, unsure of what to say at that point. Thankfully, however, Barbatos was able to speak in his place "He's a Sinner… not my child!"

"Really now? Come to think of it, he doesn't resemble you. Like… at all!" corrected Lucifer as he bent down to examine Mika closer, invading his personal space in the process. The King of Hell examined Mikazuki closely, seeming intrigued by… well, his _Lupus Rex _appendages more than anything. After some time, however, Lucifer peeked up atop Mikazuki's head and smiled wider than usual. "Heh, I like his weird hair thingy."

As he said that, Lucifer stood upright and gestured with his index finger. And within a moment's notice, Mikazuki's ahoge stood upright and tied itself up into a knot. The pilot didn't seem to notice this just yet, and he was rather confused when Lucifer let out a chuckle while his wife giggled behind her hand, and even Barbatos snickered gently. Soon after, the King of Hell snapping his fingers once more, with his wife rolling her eyes as she watched her husband's childish display of his powers with a smile.

This time, Mikazuki's ahoge tied itself up multiple times until it resembled a bow, and by then, Mika realized what was going on and felt the top of his head with his _Lupus Rex_ arm.

"... stop that," grumbled Mika, and, deciding to humor the newcomer just a little, Lucifer simply snapped his fingers once more, causing Augus' ahoge to return to its regular form.

"There you go, kid! Good as new! Now, tell me, Barbatos, why did you pick this waste of space up?" inquired Lucifer, glancing towards Mika, assuming that he'd give some sort of reaction. Unsurprisingly enough, Mika didn't give him that, as he simply rubbed his ahoge to make sure that it was normal once more, prompting Lucifer raised a brow in apparent confusion, though his smile didn't falter in the slightest as his friend responded.

"I picked Mikazuki up on a whim," replied Barbatos as he began fiddling with the pilot's ahoge for no real reason. Augus didn't voice out and discomfort if he felt any, and besides, even if he did, Barbatos probably wouldn't have stopped. "He's done some pretty insane shit in his time as a mortal, so I thought why not make a special case for this bastard and let him be a part of my servant squad!"

"How wicked of you," quipt Lilith as she eyed Mikazuki curiously, rubbing her chin as she locked eyes with the pilot, who just raised an eyebrow at that. Out of a small form of curiosity, Lilith gave a rather sly wink, and to her surprise, Augus reacted with a mildly annoyed raise of his brow, one that made her internally giggle. What an odd one he was. "A shame that we did not bring our daughter. Perhaps you two could've been friends."

Friends… wouldn't that have been nice. Rather unfortunately for the Queen of Hell, however, she didn't seem to understand that Mikazuki wasn't exactly the type to make friends, even if he were to try his hardest. Of course… there was always room for change, he supposed.

"Well, perhaps some other time. I don't mind whipping something wickedly sweet for little _Charlotte_!" assured Barbatos as he smirked and clapped his hands together, snapping Augus out of his thoughts as he turned up to stare at the Duke. "Besides, I don't believe that I will replace Mikazuki Augus anytime soon, so you won't have any trouble finding him the next time you visit! But for the love of all that is unholy, please do ring me up next time!"

"No promises!" shot Lucifer as he smirked wickedly, tipping his tophat towards Mikazuki, showing off his blonde hair in the process. "A pleasure to meet you on this horrid afternoon, little Sinner!"

"... ah," was all Mika could say as Lucifer brought his overturned hat close to Mikazuki's face. With a raised eyebrow, Augus played along and peeked into the hat, and he was taken aback when a hand suddenly sprung out of the hat and booped him on the nose.

Almost immediately after, Lilith, Lucifer and Barbatos all broke out laughing as Augus rubbed his nose with his regular hand.

"Don't forget to smile, kiddo! You're never fully dressed without one!" advised Lucifer as he placed his hat back atop his head, with Lilith giggling slightly as Mika rubbed his nose with his regular hand, a little annoyed by that gesture. "Now, we shall be taking our leave, Barbs! Ciao!"

"By the by, My King, before you leave," piped up Barbatos as he stroked his beard. "I wish to know; why exactly did you visit on this wretched afternoon?"

"No particular reason, my dear Duke!" proclaimed Lucifer as he tipped his tophat ever so slightly towards his fellow Devil. "Just felt like visiting a friend! But please, you have future predicting powers! Use them more next time please!"

"Sorry, My Lord," apologised Barbatos as Lucifer laughed out loud. And after a quick farewell, the King and Queen of Hell left, with Mikazuki and Barbatos watching as they exited the castle.

By the time the two had left in what Mika assumed to be a limo, Barbatos sighed in relief and stroked his beard while Augus watched with bemusement. The rulers of Hell were… a lot different from what he had initially thought them to be…

"So, any thoughts on the King and Queen of Hell?" inquired Barbatos out of nowhere, with Mika turning up to see the Duke smiling a little as he placed a hand on his hip. And after some time, Mika simply shrugged.

"They're interesting, I guess."

* * *

***plays the bongos* **

**So the third chapter is up. Frankly speaking, I really enjoyed writing this one. Lucifer and Lilith hadn't been introduced just yet, so their characterisation **_**maaaaaay **_**be wrong. Hopefully their actual personalities aren't too different from what I gave them. But if they are… then **_**it's rewind time**_**. **

**The next chapter will be a somewhat strange one. I can't really explain it here since it'll probably be a mild spoiler, so I'll keep silent for now. **

**Onto the review!**

* * *

**BushidoWookie: why thank you**

* * *

**And that's it… aphem… oh! I did draw the cover picture for the story. It ain't the best, but it came out pretty well… **

**Erm… see you all next time!**

* * *

"So, dearest. What do you think of that Sinner?"

"I like him!" was Lilith's immediate answer from her husband, who's smile grew wider as he spun his cane.

"May I ask why?" inquired Lilith with a rather knowing smirk. Lucifer opened his mouth, ready to answer, only for his wife to cut him off. "Does it have anything to do with your height?"

And as soon as he processed that, and after he acknowledged how Mikazuki was actually shorter than him, his usually red cheeks reddened with embarrassment.

"Of course not!" protested Lucifer, waving his arms around rather wackily as Lilith chuckled more.

"Good grief, whatever you say, dear~"


	4. Five months of work

**A very quick A/N: this chapter is sort of a montage. So… enjoy?**

* * *

It took Mika quite a while to get used to being a Servant of Barbatos.

And by quite a while, I mean it took him two entire weeks just to just get used to his new arm and legs, and much, much longer to get used to being Barbatos' assistant.

Barbatos himself did take some getting used to. The Duke was rather eccentric, to say the least, and always enjoyed poking fun at Mika a lot. By demon standards, however, he was rather… nice? That was a nice way to put it. On occasion, Barbatos did note that Mika should've been happy that he had taken his soul and not Andras or, Satan forbid, _Stolas_.

Of course, he did eventually get used to being a Sinner and working under the guy. He didn't exactly care for any of his colleagues, preferring to work alone, though they didn't exactly care for him either anyways, so it evened out.

And hey, at least things weren't boring for the five or so months of him being here…

* * *

**Two days after arrival **

"So… you're telling me that you'd rather wear your jacket instead of the standard Servant uniform?"

Barbatos' answer from Mika was predicted by him long before he nodded, and the Duke rolled his eyes as he stroked his beard.

"This is a bit of a weird request… but what the Hell, go on!" proclaimed Barbatos as he waved his hand absentmindedly. Mika himself seemed somewhat happy that he could keep wearing his Tekkadan jacket actively, though Barbatos quickly continued. "**But**… you'll need to wash your attire first, dammit! This may be Hell, but even we have standards!"

"Alright."

* * *

**Three days after arrival **

Barbatos was quick to catch up on the fact that Mikazuki was an illiterate young man.

After the young boy failed to read something the Duke had told him to sign in his steed, Barbatos took it upon himself to _try _and teach him just a bit of English and perhaps some native demonic tongue. Their lessons typically took place in Barbatos' personal study, and… well…

It was a bit of a work in progress…

By default, Mikazuki was Japanese, even if he did usually speak English. Barbatos had been able to use some magic to make demon language sound English to his ears, and for the most part, his pronunciation of words, both in English and (however rarely) Japanese were spot on. As for writing and reading, however…

"No, Mikazuki, that is not how you write your name!" protested Barbatos. In response, Mikazuki rewrote his name, barely improving as Barbatos pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Even his future sight couldn't help with this…

"No, not that either…"

* * *

**One week after arrival**

Mikazuki rolled the shoulder of his _Lupus Rex _arm as he watched Barbatos issue an order to him.

"You want me to go walk through a park with a demon you don't want to walk with?" inquired Mika for clarification. In response, Barbatos sighed into his hand and nodded.

"Embarrassingly, yes," admitted Barbatos with a quick nod. "As of now, you're my personal assistant… so I can't exactly expect to send you out willy nilly… but…"

"Sure," was all Mika could mutter out as he gave a quick shrug. Barbatos appeared rather shocked at that, though he gave a quick nod as he smirked.

"As reliable as ever. Though I must warn you…

* * *

"_Her sexual advances are very worrying."_

That part of Barbatos' warning rang out loud in his head as the demon he offered to be with in his place rubbed her body up against Mikazuki's _Lupus Rex _arm, attempting to seduce him with her above average sized bust to no avail.

Augus couldn't be bothered to remember her name. All he knew was that she was annoying. Her point of emphasising her bust size was commendable, but she couldn't compare to Kudelia's.

Did he really just think that…? Dear Tekkadan, his mind was much lewder than he realized!

"Why is your face all red, little Sinner?~" inquired the female devil beside him as she shook her booty a little, hoping to catch his eye. Rather unfortunately for her, however, Augus was less than interested in bedding her. And, as a result, and as per usual, he didn't respond to her advances.

This woman was extremely lucky that his patience was quite literally endless…

And by the time he returned to Barbatos' palace, Mikazuki was extremely exhausted, with Barbatos staring at him with wide eyes.

"You look worn out! What did she do to you, Mika?" inquired Barbatos.

"She annoyed me," was all Mika said before walking off.

* * *

**Three weeks after arrival **

The arrival of _Asmoday _at Barbatos' palace was something that caught Mika off guard. However, Barbatos was swift to explain that the 32nd Demon of Ars Goetia and one of the many Kings of Hell within the Goetial Demon ranks was one of his friends.

Asmoday himself was truly a sight to behold. His head was able to transform between a bull, a ram and a somewhat normal looking human that wore a crown at seemingly random intervals, or whenever Asmoday felt like it anyways, and his serpent tail tended to knock over random Servants of Barbatos, though thankfully Mika has yet to be knocked down. The garbs he dressed himself in did look like what a king would wear… or at least Mika thought so if those picture books Barbatos gave him from time to time have taught him anything.

Overall, the 32nd King of Hell was rather… perceptive, to say the least. With a single look at Mika, he was already able to tell who he was and why he had those new _Lupus Rex _limbs of his. When he shared his predictions with Mika, the Pilot was rightfully shocked, though it quickly faded into a mildly impressed expression. Asmoday would have revealed more, though Barbatos was quick to shut him up before he spoke of that one incident in the cockpit.

"Sinner, I hear that the Mortal Realm holds machines that take the names of the 72 Demons," was something Asmoday had mentioned when he and Mika were alone at one point. Mika quirked a brow up at that as the Demon King continued, turning his head into that of a ram's as he spoke. "Tell me, how did the feeble machine named after myself fair?"

"... I don't know. I never saw it," muttered Mika as he rubbed the thumb and index finger claws of his _Lupus Rex _hand together rather absentmindedly, creating a rather unpleasant sound in the process. "Maybe it was destroyed?"

Asmoday seemed rather shocked that something bearing his name could be destroyed, but he kept his mouth shut as he turned his head into a bull's.

"I see."

* * *

**One month after arrival **

Barbatos did say that he could've had someone drive him here, though Mika was fine with declining. He wanted to walk for once. That, and he didn't know if driving a Limousine into _Imp City _was such a good idea.

In his _Lupus Rex _arm was a rather sizable box. What was inside it was not known to the pilot, as he was only told to deliver it to an acquaintance of Barbatos, nothing more, so he didn't question it too much. The box was rather hefty for its size, and Mika wondered if it could be used as a weapon due to its heft.

It took him a while to traverse the streets of _Imp City_, but he did eventually find his destination, a massive building that had horns coming out of either side. Without much hesitation, he entered and was… not even acknowledged by the receptionist, a wolf looking lady, who busied herself with staring at her computer on her desk.

She only really acknowledged Augus when he was right in front of her desk, prompting her to sigh in frustration and stare the pilot in the eye.

"_Immediate Murder Professionals_, what the fuck can I get you, dickwad?" groaned the wolf as Mika placed the package on her table.

"Delivery from Barbatos," was all Mika cared to say as the wolf rolled her eyes and picked up the rather antique looking phone she had on her receptionist desk.

"Hey, _Blitzo_? Yeah, that tech you ordered from the bearded bastard is here. What? Some kid? Yeah, some kid delivered it," began the wolf as she wiped out a cigarette bud from seemingly nowhere and bit onto its end. After a brief exchange of words, the wolf lady sighed and forcefully slammed the phone back down onto its shell and removed the cigarette to speak. "Hey, Barbabitch. Wait here. Blitzo's gonna-"

And right as those words left the wolf girl's mouth, an Imp dressed in a torn black coat dropped in from the ceiling, creating a massive hole up there in the process. The wolf girl seemed less than amused while Augus instinctively tensed up and readied his _Lupus Rex _arm for a potential tussle, though he eventually realized… this was probably the man whom the wolf lady had rung up just now.

"Ah, sorry about that!" apologised the Imp as he got up and dusted himself off, ignoring the scream of anguish from upstairs or the possible injuries he may have sustained as he rushed over towards Mika to shake his hand. Augus allowed him to shake his regular hand out of bemusement as he introduced himself. "Name's Blitz(o)! The O is silent! Now tell me face to face, you're with Barbatos, hm?"

"Ah," confirmed Mika as Blitzo released his hand and rushed to check on the box, ignoring the wolf girl as she lit her cigarette. Opening it up, Blitzo slapped both sides of his face before squealing like a schoolgirl at its contents. The wolf girl sighed once more and pulled the cigarette out of her mouth to exhale the smoke while Blitzo shut the box and turned towards Augus.

"Why, I can't thank you enough for delivering this to me, Mr Servant of Barbatos!" thanked Blitzo as a nearby door burst open, revealing two more Imps, one looking overly mad while the other appeared passive. "Oh! _Moxxie_, _Millie_! You didn't need to-"

"FIRST OF ALL," began one of the two Imps, a devil in a fancy black suit and a dashing bow tie. He was definitely a guy, and he looked pissed, though his voice did ruin his overall angry self. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! WE HAVE THINGS LIKE ELEVATORS OR STAIRS!"

"I needed to be dramatic, Moxxie!" defended Blitzo, though before long, the other Imp, Moxxie, began yelling at him loudly. Meanwhile, the other Imp, no doubt a woman, approached Mika with a medium sized box in her hands. Augus eyed the Imp dressed in black as she passed him the box.

"Please don't mind them. Barbatos rang us up quite recently to get some things for you. They're all in the box," assured the Imp who was most probably Millie. Augus shrugged as he took the box with his _Lupus Rex _hand, finding it surprisingly hefty for a box as small as it was. "Now go on, git! Before I'm forced to kick you out!"

And Mika simply raised a brow before he left the I.M.P HQ, not bothering with watching the aftermath of Moxxie's yelling contest with Blitzo.

As he walked down the streets of, Augus eyed the box suspiciously. Even though it was taped up with tons of duct tape, the claws of his _Lupus Rex _hand tore through it easily enough. After he got that out of the way, Mika opened the box… and he stopped right at the entrance of _Imp City_ as he stared at its contents.

Reaching in, Augus wrapped his hand around the grip of the pistol he had used while he was still alive. Kneeling down onto one knee, the pilot placed the box onto the ground and examined the firearm, pulling the hammer back and cocking the barrel back. How I.M.P got a hold of it was beyond his comprehension… but he didn't mind. The box itself was filled to the brim with several clips for the pistol, and if he were honest, there were probably enough ammo clips in there to fuel a small army.

If he looked harder, however… he saw something else.

Reaching down and working his regular hand through the ammo clips, Mika found himself widening his eyes when he wrapped his fingers around something rather soft. Curiously, he pulled whatever it was out of the box, and the pilot allowed his stone cold facade drop for a brief moment when he saw what it was.

The bracelet Atra had made for him so long ago.

It still smelled like strawberries even after so long… and just the sight of it made the pilot feel… strange.

So much so that he didn't even wonder how I.M.P even managed to get his pistol and bracelet into the afterlife.

* * *

**One month and fourteen days after arrival **

"_Good afternoon, denizens of Hell! I'm _Katie Killjoy_."_

"_And I'm _Tom Trench_! News in today, the group known as S.T.D, the __**Superior Terror Dominators**__, located in Damnation Peek, have been completely wiped out!"_

"_That's right, Tom! The S.T.D have been rather infamous for being extremely vocal regarding the Goetial Demon, Sitri, and her eventual takeover of their turf! S.T.D leader, Segma, was known to be extremely proficient in all forms of gunplay, and if we're not wrong, there definitely was a shootout in her hideout! Her body was found alongside several of her accomplices with one particularly large hold in her chest! We're not exactly sure who did it, but they really went all out!"_

"_Heh, a shame that she was shot through the heart like that, Katie! Personally, I'd like to shoot her up, if you catch my drift!"_

"_Well, that depends on if you can even shoot anything out in the first place, Tom!"_

* * *

At that, Barbatos watched in amusement as Katie Killjoy gave a massive blow to Tom Trench's ego. Meanwhile, pictures of the crime scene began flashing on screen like a slideshow, prompting Barbatos to smirk at how brutal his little assistant was with his job. Said smirked widened when he saw a deceased demon with several slash marks and a massive hole in their stomach, being most likely caused by Mikazuki's _Lupus Rex _claws and heel bunkers.

And at that very moment, Mikazuki entered his personal office, seeming somewhat irritated as he wiped some blood off his cheek, further staining his _Lupus Rex _claws in blood in the process. Barbatos eyed his little assistant rather intently, noticing all the red that covered him, before he smiled.

"Marvelously done, Mikazuki!" congratulated Barbatos as Mika rolled his eyes as he tugged on his jacket's collar.

"I.M.P helped a bit," admitted Augus, and Barbatos rolled his eyes at that.

"Whatever. The important thing is that S.T.D is gone for good!" proclaimed Barbatos as he leaned back on his office chair and sighed happily. As for Mika, he rolled his shoulder as he continued on.

"Why did you ask me to kill them out of the blue, Barbatos?" inquired the pilot.

And at that, Barbatos chuckled lightly. He did see this coming… though he didn't exactly know how to respond.

"Well… you see…" began Barbatos…

"Your next line shall be, _it's complicated_," predicted Mika out of nowhere.

"It's complicated-" began Barbatos, only to stop when he realized that he had been played. "WAIT WHAT?!"

And Mika swiftly hightailed it out of there before he could explain how lucky he got with that prediction.

* * *

**Two months after arrival **

With his back against the wall, Mika couldn't help but sigh as he stared at the bracelet on his regular wrist.

How did I.M.P even manage to get a hold of it? It was on Earth, wasn't it…? This was Hell, and to his knowledge, they had no possible way of getting to Earth.

Whatever the reason was, however… Mika figured that he could think of it another time. For now, he busied himself with taking in the fragrance of the bracelet he had.

Atra really did know him well… and that strawberry scented bracelet was his last reminder of his former life as a pilot. It reminded him of all he had treasured while he was still alive… the faces of those he died protecting. He did hope for their survival, to say the least.

It also reminded him of the two young women whom he loved more than nearly anything else in his life.

As such, he made a big deal on not losing it.

* * *

**Two months and twenty days after arrival **

The sound of bombs going off in a rather sizable casino in _Pentagram City _caused every demon within to evacuate, including a rather fluffy demon that just so happened to be on Barbatos' shitlist.

Said demon was once a business partner to the 8th Demon of Ars Goetia who sold out on him to join another Goetial Demon, _Amon_, who was considerably more powerful than Barbatos. And all that led it here in _Pentagram City_. As soon as the planted bombs, a parting gift from I.M.P after Mika had worked with them some time ago, had gone off, the fluffy demon had exited through a backdoor.

Though as soon as he opened it, it realized that someone had been expecting it.

Before it could even blink, Mikazuki opened fire and lodged a bullet straight in his skull. The demon fell back, and the pilot sighed as he brought the pistol close to his face.

Mika was quick to notice that his target was still alive in spite of the bullet lodged in its skull, however. At first, Augus was a little surprised, though he shrugged his surprise off as soon as he acknowledged that he was in Hell, and a shot in the head was probably not too fatal here.

Rather slowly, he stalked over to the fatally injured devil and stared down at it. His fluffy target grimaced up at him as he pointed the barrel of his pistol at him.

And then… _click_.

His firearm was empty, and the realization made Augus raise a brow as he removed the clip in his pistol and saw that it was indeed empty. In response to that, his target gave out a rather weak cackle, with Mika grumbling silently to himself as he slammed his foot down onto his target's chest.

And after taking in a deep breath, Mika activated his heel bunker, with said bunker slamming straight into the devil's chest, shattering its ribcage and tearing up its insides, killing it almost instantly. As soon as he confirmed that his target was dead, Mika ripped the heel bunker out of its chest and retracted it.

With all of that done, Mika began walking off, holstering his pistol in a pocket in his jacket as he did. He would've disposed of that dead body, though to his knowledge, scavengers that took the corpses of deceased demons were rather widespread, so it probably didn't matter anyways. And though it probably wasn't necessary, Mika slid his pistol into his jacket to make sure no one knew he was the murderer. Sure, this was Hell, but old habits die hard, he supposed.

As he walked down the streets of _Pentagram City_, Mika did stop briefly to eye an advertisement for this upcoming _Happy Hotel_. His literacy wasn't much better than usual, though he was able to make out at least some of what it said, and it made him chuckle just a little.

'_Rehabilitate sinners… hm? Isn't that a nice dream to have.' _

* * *

**Three months and fifteen days after arrival **

"Your next line shall be; _"you're getting annoying, Barbatos."_

"Stop that."

Wincing at the fact that he was unable to predict Mikazuki's next line, Barbatos sulked as he wandered off, leaving Mika to his own devices. The pilot watched as the bearded demon headed off to do whatever, rolling his eyes ever so slightly in the process.

Ever since he realized that Mika's responses to his predictions were extremely inconsistent, Barbatos seemed to have made a game out of this. He kept trying to predict his next words, much to his irritation, though frankly speaking… it was rather entertaining to watch Barbatos sulk off everytime he predicted the future incorrectly.

* * *

**Three months and thirty days after arrival **

"So… you're Mikazuki Augus?"

Raising his brow at the snake demon before him, Mika nodded as he passed him a notepad. The snake demon nodded before he swiftly signed the notepad. With that done, Augus got ready to leave, though before he could, the snake stopped him.

"Hoooooold it, young one!" protested the snake as Augus turned to eye him with a raised brow. The snake adjusted his bow tie and the collar of his spiffy suit before continuing. "While it is true that you have come for a mere business endeavour between Sir Barbatos and I, there is no reason for me to not treat you with a small amount of hospitality!"

"Don't bother," was all Mika bothered to say as he got ready to leave, only for the snake to point the end of his tail towards Mika. At that point, Mika noticed how sharp the devil's tail was, though he didn't put much more thought into it as he brought his _Lupus Rex _arm up to mirror the demon's hostility.

"I insist! Evil though I may be, I am not above providing hospitality to those who provide me with ways to advance my inventions. So, Mikazuki Augus, please, allow me to treat you to some refreshments before you leave, _or you won't be leaving at all_!"

"...fine," was all Mika could mumble out as he lowered his _Lupus Rex _arm and stored the notepad in his jacket. Better to just entertain this guy's requests than to get hung up in a scuffle, he supposed.

* * *

Within the evil lair (read: random abandoned warehouse he found one day) of _Sir Pentious_ were several _Egg Bois_, lads that apparently helped with the snake demon with his evil plans and inventions. Mika could see some sort of massive blimp-like contraption hanging up rather precariously as he was ushered into the 'evil lair' of Sir Pentious, who seemed rather happy to have a visitor.

"How do you like toast, Mikazuki Augus?" inquired Sir Pentious as he led him to a small kitchen looking area. Augus shrugged at that, prompting Sir Pentious to whip up a massive mountain of toasted bread in no time before he got back to Mika. "I do apologise if this is too much, Mikazuki Augus! But please do help yourself!"

Mika didn't comment on how the bread was all stacked up rather precariously, so much so that a gentle breeze could probably knock it all down, as he reached forward with his _Lupus Rex _arm and very gingerly took a slice. It felt like playing _Jenga_ with bread… not that Mika knew what _Jenga _was anyways.

"So, tell me, Mikazuki Augus," began Sir Pentious as he and his Egg Bois began picking up some toast as well, with one of them pausing briefly to check out Mika's _Lupus Rex _arm before doing so. "How is it working with Barbatos? To have such a privileged position despite being a Sinner, it must be a true honor!"

"It's fine," was all Mika replied with as Sir Pentious snorted, prompting the Pilot to raise a brow in mild confusion.

"My word, you humans who come to Hell before you reach the age of thirty are all like that!" proclaimed Sir Pentious as he waved his chunk of toast around the air, nearly knocking over the massive tower of bread in the process. His Egg Bois went rather tense as the tower of bread swayed rather precariously before calming down when it steadied itself, though Sir Pentious himself remained calm as he ranted on. "Do you not know the position that you hold, little one?! Weak as he may be, Barbatos commands immense power as a Goetial Demon! So much so that I would gladly kill you to be in his place!"

"Hm," was all Augus could say as he raised a brow as Sir Pentious, who remained adamant on gesturing rather dramatically as he ranted.

"Let me tell you, there's this **whore **known as _Cherri Bomb _who thinks she's the boss of _Pentagram City_! Youngsters these days, I tell you!" protested Sir Pentious. "They have no class while blowing things up! Cherri Bomb insists on controlling with brute force! Where's the style in that?! As for me, well, I for one would rule with style! With an army of mecha behind me!"

"...alright?" muttered Mika, unsure on how to answer as he slowed down on eating his toast, feeling amused at Sir Pentious' venting.

"Now, you may be wondering how this links to you and Barbatos and all that! Well, if I were in your place, I, **SIR PENTIOUS**, **KINGPIN OF MECHA**. would use my ultra mega super Goetial powers to construct an army of mecha to kick Cherri Bomb's behind!" proclaimed Sir Pentious as he stood up, causing his chair to fall back in the process, and raised his toast holding hand into the air. "THAT, MY FRIEND, IS STYLE!"

At that, Mika had to turn to cover a small snicker. This guy… he was pretty entertaining, he had to admit.

And by the time he left Sir Pentious' evil lair, Mika was feeling pretty good. The same could be said for the evil genius himself, who was happy that Augus listened to his ranting, and his Egg Bois were also happy to see their boss this way.

Mika himself was just happy that Sir Pentious was able to provide as much entertainment as he did.

* * *

**Four months and twenty one days after arrival **

"GUSION!"

As he said that, Barbatos pointed towards the door to his palace, where a baboon dressed in a fancy suit stood with his arms outstretched beside him.

"BARBATOS!" responded the demon, apparently Gusion as Barbatos approached him. "YOU APPROACH ME?! INSTEAD OF RUNNING AND TRIPPING ON YOUR RIDICULOUS BEARD IN THE PROCESS, YOU APPROACH ME?!"

"I CAN'T GREET YOU UNLESS I COME CLOSER!" replied Barbatos, his tone just as dramatic as Gusion's, prompting the baboon to smirk wider.

"HOHO, THEN COME AS CLOSE AS YOU WANT, **BARBATOS**!"

And with that said, Barbatos and Gusion approached one another with a swagger Mika had not seen before.

Over by the doorway, a pair of demons facepalmed. One was a jaguar looking demon dressed in a dapper pink suit while the other was a leopard with wings. Their somewhat pronounced chests told Augus that they were women.

"Gusion never stops with these antics," groaned the leopard with wings. "Flauros, why the absolute **fuck **do you not stop him?!"

"Because it's amusing~" was Flauros' response as everyone watched Gusion give Barbatos a noogie. "That and you enjoy it as well, Sitri! Admit it!"

In response to that, Sitri said nothing.

As for Mika, he opted to just head off to find something else to do.

* * *

**5 months after arrival, present day **

After he checked if his target was actually dead and confirming that he was, Mika nodded and stood himself upright before wiping the blood off his cheek. After a quick sigh, he began walking away from the dead demon's corpse. In his regular hand was his pistol, though he held it by the barrel, having used it as a blunt weapon to beat the demon to death after running out of bullets.

The claws of his _Lupus Rex _arm and feet were dripping in blood, and he himself was similarly stained to absolute Hell, though he didn't think much of it as he walked off back to Barbatos' palace. He could have called for a ride, though walking was better in his opinion.

Besides, no one cared about a bloodied person in Hell. If anything, it was normal, as no one even turned to stared at him in spite of his bloodstained self.

It was essentially a weekly routine by now. Barbatos, despite being one of the less noteworthy demons, Goetial or not, was still on the shitlist for many demons. Mika's job was to clear them out while occasionally doing other things. He was fine with it, for the most part.

Though of course… it was getting a little mundane. He didn't care enough to socialise with the other Servants of Barbatos, and as such his life boiled down to either the occasional murder or just waiting around to do a random chore for Barbatos. Sure, the Duke could provide entertainment from time to time, but it would never as interesting as Sir Pentious' little rant back then.

A little change in pace would be nice… and if he were honest… a little bit of Atra and perhaps Kudelia would be nice as well.

Oh, how he missed them… how he missed Tekkadan. While it was very likely that other members of Tekkadan were down here as well, thus far, he has yet to find any of them… and… well, just the thought of him being all alone down here stung a little…

The young man was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a certain someone walking his way until he walked right into him, causing him to wince and take a step back as he shook his head.

Blinking as he regained his bearings, Mikazuki instinctively looked _waaaaay _up and found himself staring a rather peculiar demon in the eye. Said demon didn't seem to even be phased by Mika walking into him. If anything… that already wide smirk on his face grew wider as he watched the pilot raise his brow at him.

"You may want to watch your step, little Hatchet man," advised the overly tall demon in red with a rather… interesting voice effect as he smiled toothily at the Pilot, who visibly winced at the size of that smile as he walked past the demon, whose smile remained as he walked off.

As soon as he was sure that he was far enough away, Mika stopped and turned back to see the demon in red walk off, humming a rather catchy tune as he spun his microphone cane around. Something about that demon… it put him on edge…

Though he supposed that it was just a one-time thing.

After all, what were the odds of them meeting again, anyways?

* * *

**The stage is set.**

**The gun has been dammed.**

**The… erm… radio has been turned on?**

**I'm going a bit far with this. Aphem, chapter four is up… obviously, and it essentially introduces some minor characters and adds a minor bit of worldbuilding. The original plan was to have several chapters but that ended up being a little too long and mundane, so I condensed it all down into the longest chapter of the story so far.**

**I hope it was enjoyable. Me and my proofreader really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I had a good laugh at certain parts. Hopefully you guys did too. The next chapter will be delving a small bit into the Pilot. A very small bit. Hopefully that comes out fine… **_**hopefully**_**. **

**Not much else to say, really. Onto the reviews!**

* * *

**Azure Dragon of the East: personally I call him Gay-Tee Yah thanks to a certain game of mine. Go-She-Ya does seem pretty neat tho**

**ToriSenkiTan: welcome to the club my dude. And thanks, I'll try to keep it up.**

* * *

**Erm… see you next time?**

* * *

"Raise your flag… with all your voice, with all your voice…"

Blinking as he heard that, Barbatos turned towards Mikazuki, who was silently reciting a song he couldn't possibly have known of. As he did, the demon chuckled mildly under his breath.

"What a weird kid you are."


	5. Meeting a Radio Demon

There was a saying that went: _lightning never strikes the same place twice_.

As uneducated as he was, Mika knew what that saying meant. Things, be they good or bad, would probably not happen twice in a row, especially in a short amount of time, and he had enough firsthand experience to know that much.

So that begged the question… why did lightning strike him _three _times in a row after he came face to face with that demon dressed in red…?

He had bumped into that spiffy looking fellow on _three separate occasions_ after their first run in. Things couldn't get much more coincidental than that, and Mika ended up noticing how that demon seemed to have a knack for showing up whenever he was sent off to kill someone.

Every time Mika was done getting his hands dirty, that demon in red would always be present with that toothy smile on his face, a smile that was so malicious in appearance that even Mika would shiver at the mere sight of it.

It eventually became rather unnerving, to say the least. Though it was a rather trivial thing at first, Mika himself eventually became wary of the demon who kept smiling at him, especially after spotting him a second time in a row. The pilot wasn't an expert at noticing the magical potency of the demons around him, often requiring someone, usually Barbatos, to warn him about someone's strength. But this demon in red… he radiated an aura of power that Mika could not ignore.

And after his fourth run in with this demon, Mika had opted to speak with Barbatos about this demon in red the moment he got back to his palace.

Though of course, his luck refused to let things be that simple.

* * *

By the time Mikazuki had gotten back to Barbatos' palace, he was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

His most recently assassination/murder was someone who was associated with _Leraje_, a Marquise of Hell, for allegedly trash talking Sitri. Mika didn't bother with anything more specific than that. After all, a target was a target, and the devil that worked for Leraje was just another wanker to add onto his list. The only reason he was exhausted was probably because of how fast that bastard was. He practically ran all across _Pentagram City_ just to avoid Mika, though as usual, Augus got to him.

And as usual, that demon dressed in red was present in some way to watch him depart, his smile still present all the while.

That was the fourth time by now, and his presence was starting to get just a bit unsettling. The Pilot was adamant on speaking with Barbatos about this demon, even in his currently exhausted state, and he began walking off towards his master's office.

He was very quickly stopped in his tracks, however, when he heard some knocking on the door to Barbatos' palace, prompting him to turn towards it with a raised brow.

Rather blurrily, Mika stared at it for a brief moment, wondering if his fatigue was causing him to hear things. After a short while, he assumed as such and turned to walk off once more… only for several more knocks to be heard. Said kocks were much louder and more aggressive, and at that point, Mika realized that he wasn't just imagining things as he sighed and began approaching the door.

Thanks to his fatigue, Augus found himself ignoring most of his usual instincts as he nonchalantly extended his regular arm out towards the doorknob. He also found himself ignoring the static noise as he gingerly opened the door…

… and he quickly found himself staring up at the vaguely familiar smiling face of the demon dressed in red.

This was the first time Mika had seen him up close and personal, and dear Tekkadan, was he _tall_. At a distance, the demon in red always seemed to stand at Akihiro's height, though when he was in his face, Mika realized that he stood close to two metres in height. His grey skin was a cause for concern, as was his genuinely massive and unnerving smile, though said smile was something that Mika had unfortunately gotten used to by then.

For a brief moment, Mika simply stared at the demon in red, seeming just a bit unsure on if he was just seeing things or if the guy was really there. In an effort to find out, Augus pinched the bridge of his nose with his regular hand, dispelling some of his sleepiness in the process, before turning his attention back to the demon before him. His shoulders noticeably slackened when he realized that he wasn't hallucinating, and as if on cue, the demon in red held a finger up in the air.

"Why hello there, little Hatchetman!" greeted the demon with a voice that was rather akin to a radio announcer, his smile still present as he twirled his microphone cane around in his other hand. Without missing a beat, he offered Mika a hand to shake, and the demon seemed just a little disappointed that he didn't accept as he simply stared at him with a confused and mildly irritated expression. "_Alastor_, a pleasure to be meeting you once more and-"

"You're that demon that I've been seeing for a while," cut off Augus, frowning deeply as he eyed the much taller demon, Alastor, as he had called himself. In response to that, Alastor gave a rather melodious laugh, one that put Augus on edge as he slid his regular hand into his jacket, with said hand hovering over his pistol, ready to whip it out at the first sign of hostility from this strawberry pimp.

"Ah, you remember me! Flattering, my little Hatchetman!" proclaimed Alastor as he took a step forward, only to be stopped by Mika, who pulled his pistol out just enough for it to be seen by Alastor. The demon in red definitely saw it, as evident by him raising a brow as a noticeable static noise to be heard as Alastor glanced at the former Tekkadan Pilot, a clear warning that Mika did not heed, prompting Alastor to chuckle briefly at his apparent bravery. "Hm, is something wrong, my little Hatchetman? Perhaps you do not wish for me to dirty the floors of the 8th Duke of Hell? My oh my, that man sure does love his places to be clean!"

"We don't allow visitors in without Barbatos' permission,'' was all Mika said as he remained on the defensive. Meanwhile, Alastor tilted his head off to the side. While what Mika just said wasn't exactly true, he did remember Barbatos telling him that only other Goetial Demons or Overlords, such as Lucifer and/or Lilith, were allowed to waltz in willy nilly. This Alastor fellow appeared to be neither a Goetial Demon nor an Overlord, even if he did radiate some serious power, and as such he had no right to enter without the Duke's permission.

"Really now, such a shame!" quipt Alastor, with a mild laugh track in the background as he leaned forward to eye Mika in the eye, perhaps in an attempt to mock the shorter guy for his height. Mika didn't really care as he pulled his pistol out further, ready to whip Alastor over the head should he come any closer. Whether the Radio Demon noticed this or not, however, was up for debate, even if he did lean away from Mika as he continued speaking, prompting the pilot to loosen his grip on his pistol just as little. "I did wish to discuss some things with the Great Duke of Hell, though I suppose that can wait…"

And as if on cue, both Mika and Alastor heard the distinct sound of frantic footsteps, prompting Augus to turn his head back while Alastor peeked into Barbatos' palace with a somewhat smug look on his face. And though it took a while, Barbatos himself eventually burst out of one of the doors leading to the main hall, seeming out of breath as he entered, though that didn't stop him from pointing a finger towards Alastor, whose smile visibly widened as he saw the Duke arrive.

"Well now isn't this just a coincidence!" quipt Alastor, his smile morphing into a rather cheeky grin as he quite literally walked through Mikazuki, confusing the pilot greatly as the demon in red entered the main hall of Barbatos' palace. "Who knew that luck was on my side on this fine day! Or perhaps it is true that if you speak of the devil, he will appear!"

"Cut the crap with me, Alastor! You have ten seconds to tell me why the fuck you're here, or I'm sending you packing!" proclaimed Barbatos as he straightened himself out. On a typical Tuesday, the 8th Duke of Ars Goetia would be rather chipper. Very laid back, so to speak. But the arrival of Alastor seemed to agitate him just enough to break his chipper facade, as he wasted no time in giving off a massive surge of magical power to show Alastor that he wasn't messing around. Said surge of magical power was strong enough that even Mika, someone who usually didn't notice anything magic related, was able to feel it.

Alastor, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice or care about Barbatos' mild show of power, as he simply twirled his microphone cane around in his hand as he approached the fuming Duke. As soon as he was roughly five metres away from him, however, the ground in front of him began cracking, a mild warning from the Duke.

"You're not coming _any closer_, _Radio Demon_!" protested Barbatos as he clenched his fists. Alastor, as per usual, didn't seem amused by the Duke's mild display of power, though he did find it prudent to at least humor him as he shrugged and stopped approaching him, his smile not faltering in the slightest as he placed both hands against his hips.

"Ah Hell, I'll play along and stay right here then," assured Alastor with a rather sly grin as Barbatos loosened up just a little, even if his glare remained hard.. "But in exchange, my good Egg, you should at least hear me out!"

"... you have one minute, Alastor," groaned Barbatos, seemingly going passive as the _Radio Demon_ smirked and adjusted his bow tie. While all of this happened, Mika simply watched everything go down with mild curiosity, holstering his pistol and leaning against the door frame as he did.

"Very well then, Barbatos. I shall keep this brief!" assured Alastor. And within a split second, he turned towards Mikazuki and pointed the tip of his microphone cane at him, prompting the Sinner to raise a brow while Barbatos appeared confused. "I wish to hire your Hatchetman for a few weeks as a personal escort!"

"... come again?" was all Barbatos could spit out as both he and Mikazuki were left endlessly confused by his inquiry. Meanwhile, Alastor simply chuckled as he shook his head, rubbing his temple with his free hand in the process..

"Was I not clear, my dear Duke? My word, is this thing on?!" proclaimed Alastor sarcastically as he raised his microphone cane up to eye level and tapped it rather dramatically. "Testing, testing!"

At first, Augus thought that it was simply a sarcastic act, though he raised a brow when he heard the microphone reply with, _"Well beats me, boss! I heard you loud and clear!"_

"No, I heard you loud and clear as well, Alastor," assured Barbatos as he lowered his guard just a bit. The _Radio Demon's _rather… odd request had caused him to lose a small portion of his hostility towards the guy as he began speaking a little more rationally, though his distrust still showed as he continued speaking. "But… erm, why do you wish to hire my personal assistant?"

His response was a rather hearty and mildly melodic chuckle from Alastor, who smirked as he turned towards Mika. The pilot noticeably flinched a little at the sudden attention, something that made Alastor's smile widen just a tiny bit while Barbatos tugged on his beard enviously. If only he had that sort of power to make Mika flinch… though before that thought could overwhelm his mind, Alastor spoke up.

"Ah… answer me this, my dear Duke," replied Alastor. "Why does anyone do anything? Why did you summon that loathsome Sinner to your palace? Why does he even bother to work with you? And why did I come for a visit?! Well, here's your answer!"

"I haven't even-" began Barbatos, only to be cut off by Alastor.

"Shear, _absolute_, _**unadulterated BOREDOM**_!" answered Alastor in place of Barbatos, clenching his fist tightly to emphasize his point. "You must understand, my dear Duke, that I've been feeling that way for centuries! It was sheer luck, I tell you, that I caught sight of your little Hatchetman that one day! I've been keeping an eye on him for days after, and I must admit, his handiwork is most impressive indeed! It might be just the thing I need to liven up my afterlife!"

"...right," was all Barbatos could say in response to Alastor's explanation. Strangely enough, he wasn't making any effort at predicting the next line of this demon in red, something that unnerved Mika just a little. Barbatos never did let a chance to make fun of others with his future predicting abilities before. Even Lucifer wasn't safe from his terrible jokes. So for him to make an exception with this… _Radio Demon_, as he called him… it meant that he was a pretty serious threat.

"So!" continued Alastor, twirling his microphone cane as he eyed Barbatos. "What's your price?"

"...say what now?" was all Barbatos could answer with as Alastor rolled his eyes, his smile still stuck firmly onto his face as he shook his head mockingly.

"Your price!" rephrased Alastor as he straightened himself back up. "I'll have you know that I am not unreasonable, my fine Duke! If I wish to borrow your personal assistant, then you surely must have a price for him, yes?"

At that, Barbatos simply stared past Alastor and locked eyes with Mika, who seemed somewhere between confused, annoyed and perhaps a little unnerved by this whole thing. Alastor himself turned to look Mika in the eye as well, giving a toothy smile that showed his yellowed teeth when he saw the pilot's typically stone cold expression crack ever so slightly. To Alastor's credit, he did make Mika flinch a little, though he was quick to regain his usual expression.

"Erm… hold that thought," was all Barbatos could really say as he swiftly walked past Alastor and approached Mika, who still looked a tad confused and unnerved. Without missing a beat, the Duke crouched down until he was looking Mika directly in the eye and began speaking, shaking him by the shoulders as he did. "Mikazuki, Mikazuki Augus… first of all, how'd you even manage to find this guy?!"

"I didn't find him," responded Mika truthfully as he and Barbatos both turned to glance at Alastor, who had his back towards them as he hummed a catchy tune, tapping his foot all the while. "He just kept showing up from time to time whenever I killed someone you wanted dead."

"Even so, how in the name of SATAN did you catch his attention?!" whisper-shouted Barbatos. In response, Mika raised a brow.

"I… don't know," admitted Mika. "Who is this guy, anyways?"

"Wait, you don't know?!" proclaimed Barbatos as Mika shook his head mildly, prompting the Duke to facepalm. "Didn't I tell you about him quite some time ago?! During our chat about the hierarchy of Hell?!"

Mika replied with a sheepish shrug as Barbatos facepalmed even more.

"Were you even paying attention?!" demanded Barbatos, and Augus pursed his lips together rather sheepishly, answering the Duke without any words, prompting him to sigh in frustration. "Fucking… aurg, alright, listen close, cuz I'm gonna make this brief, you little shitstain!

"Long ago, a mortal died via unknown circumstances and arrived down in Hell. This mortal was Alastor. When he arrived, he showed a level of power no Sinner prior to him possessed. And with this power, he began toppling other some of the oldest and strongest Overlords that ruled Hell with ease!

"One of my oldest friends and the first and strongest of the 72 Demons of Ars Goetia, _Bael_, was killed by Alastor when he attempted to oppose him. To put it into perspective, Bael kicked my ass three times in a row without breaking a sweat, even when I had Gusion and Flauros to help me! He's no pushover, and Alastor killed him within the blink of an eye!

"As such, you must certainly see why I am _very _reluctant to trust or even be in close proximity to the _Radio Demon_! Though he is powerful, he is also a manipulative scoundrel who seeks to use others to further his own desires! If you wish for my assistance with him, then I am sorry, but I cannot help you any more than granting you a quick death!"

Though Barbatos had been rather brief, the words he spoke out did quite a bit to inform Mika about the dangers of this _Radio Demon_. With some reluctance, Mika peeked over Barbatos' shoulder and glanced at Alastor, who seemed to be minding his own business as he played with a fireball he had conjured up in his palm, tossing it up and down without a care in the (under)world.

"So he's a dangerous person," concluded Mika rather nonchalantly as Barbatos nodded direly. And that made Mika raise a brow as he stepped back and rub his cheek, and Barbatos' latest prediction caused a massive chill to go up his spine, prompting him to seize Augus by the shoulders and shake him around like there was no tomorrow.

"Mikazuki Augus, please tell me that you're not thinking what I think you're thinking!" proclaimed Barbatos as Mika brushed his Master's hands off his shoulders, inadvertently stopping him from shaking him further, before he replied.

"I'll handle this, Barbatos," assured Mika as he waltzed past the Duke, who seemed ready to collapse at any moment as he watched his personal assistant essentially walk up to make a deal with the evillest Sinner he had the displeasure of meeting.

As for Mika, he kept his composure as he approached Alastor, his expression remaining as neutral as ever as he did, even if he did seem just a little more fidgety than usual. Dangerous though he may be, this _Radio Demon _was, at least according to Barbatos, extremely powerful. And if Tekkadan's run in with Teiwaz oh so long ago had taught Mika anything, it was that partnerships with potentially powerful companies or individuals could be beneficial in the long run.

Though of course, what benefits this… _Radio Demon _could provide Mika with during his time in eternal damnation were the main thing he wished to find out.

* * *

As soon as Alastor noticed Mikazuki approach him, the demon in red clenched his fist, in turn extinguishing the flame in his palm as he turned towards the approaching pilot, who remained mostly neutral at the smiling Overlord.

"Well, am I to assume that you and your Big Cheese settled on an agreement?" inquired Alastor with a rather wide grin. Behind Mika, Barbatos grimaced at being called a dairy product while Mika simply shook his head, prompting Alastor to raise an eyebrow. "Really now? Then I suppose you're here to perhaps decline my request in his place? If that's the case, then I must admit, Barbatos should do his best to regrow the pair he lost to Sitri!"

Once again, Barbatos felt a massive amount of rage build up in his chest, though before he could unleash it and most likely get beaten up by Alastor in the process, Mika spoke up.

"Not that either," assured Mika as he waved his regular hand up in the air dismissively, prompting Alastor to raise a brow, inviting Mika to continue explaining himself. "Alastor, you know that I'm a Servant of Barbatos, right?"

"Well of course! What kind of nonsense question is that?! If you weren't, then why would I even bother following you to Barbatos' home?" replied Alastor sarcastically, laughing near the end as he leaned his head back just a little. Mika didn't exactly pick up on his sarcasm, however, as he nodded and continued.

"Hm. Well that might be the case, but I remember telling Barbatos that he doesn't have my loyalty," clarified Mika, prompting Alastor to raise a brow, though his smile remained as Augus spoke. "I've told him before that I have the choice to leave whenever I want."

"Mmhm, carry on," goaded Alastor with a grin that seemed to have predicted the future. Meanwhile, Barbatos didn't even need that ability to predict what Mika could say next, and he had half a mind to stop this, though he wasn't fast enough..

"Though personally I don't care much for him, I have enough respect for Barbatos to not want anything bad to happen to him…" muttered Mika as, behind him, the Duke seemed rather flattered by his words, though Mika didn't really care as he continued. "Besides, Barbatos' jobs get boring after some time."

And at that, the Duke seemed to quite literally deflate as he frowned at Augus, though he quickly inflated back up when he saw Alastor bite his lower lip to hold his snickers in.

"So I'll accept your offer," concluded Mika, regaining Alastor's attention as Barbatos winced just a little. "But working with you had better be worth my time."

"Oh don't worry, little Hatchetman! I never did say that I'd be taking you away from your current employer, now did I?" assured Alastor as he pointed his microphone cane at Barbatos, who raised a questioning eyebrow at that. "Here's the deal, little Hatchetman. Your main head honcho will still be Barby over there, but your relationship is gonna have to be… how do we put this? Long distance?"

"And why's that?" inquired Mika, who seemed to get a feel of where Alastor was going with this, though he wished for some confirmation.

"Because, my good Sinner, you'll be travelling with me!" proclaimed Alastor, smirking widely as he placed his hands on his hips. "Why, doesn't the term _escort _already imply that? Barbs is simply going to have to provide you with work over the phone while you entertain me on our various trips!"

As soon as he heard that, Barbatos perked up, not liking the idea of his personal assistant becoming a long distance contract killer, so to speak. Though before he could voice that out, Mika nodded.

"Alright," agreed Mika with a mild nod as Alastor's smile grew to its widest, perhaps to celebrate his victory, while Barbatos had a minor heart attack.

"Hm, then it's a deal, I believe?" inquired Alastor as he twirled his microphone cane in one hand while his other extended out towards Augus. And without much warning, a bright green, menacing aura began to emanate from the _Radio Demon_, accompanied by a rather noticeable static sound and several demonic symbols floating around the guy as he waited for Augus to shake his hand.

Barbatos didn't even need his future predicting ability to predict that Mika would turn down the deal as, without much hesitation, Mika outstretched his _Lupus Rex _arm and swatted Alastor's hand away, prompting the _Radio Demon_ to quirk an eyebrow up.

"I never said this was a deal. As far as I'm concerned, you're just another client I have to deal with," clarified Mika, promptin Barbatos to chuckle a little at that. As for Alastor, he rubbed his chin before shrugging and giving his rather melodious laugh once more as he nodded.

"Ah heck, whatever you say, kiddo! I'll be doing my best to make this interesting for you!" quipt Alastor as he rested his arm around Mikazuki's back and reeled him in close, much to his dismay. "Don't worry about being bored, kid! Travelling with me never gets boring, and who knows, you may get bigger fish to fry along the way! Such is the life with someone such as I, little Hatchetman!"

"... Mikazuki Augus," was all Mika could grumble out as Alastor raised a brow up higher on his face.

"Say what now?" inquired Alastor, sounding just a bit confused in spite of his radio-esc voice, which, curiously enough, seemed to sound less static-ey when he spoke. Mika noticed that a little, though he didn't comment on it as he repeated himself.

"My name. Stop calling me… whatever a Hatchetman is," insisted Mika, frowning as he had Alastor release him. Though terms such as Martian Rat or Criminal did very little to phase him, Mika found that he'd much rather be called a term that he knew the meaning of and not… whatever Hatchetman meant.

"Hm, well I suppose I could do that, Mika," replied Alastor as he twirled his cane in his hand. That name rolled off the tongue rather well, and Alastor decided that he liked it. Mika responded to that with a mild nod as the _Radio Demon_ chuckled ever so slightly. "Now, tell me, when do you wish to depart?"

"You're the client," answered Mika reluctantly. "By default, you're the one choosing."

"In that case, let's get moving now!" was Mika's immediate answer from Alastor, who turned on his heel and headed towards the door. With a mild sigh, Augus nodded and followed him, though before he could even take a step forward, Barbatos stopped both of them.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" proclaimed Barbatos as he made his presence known once more. Alastor simply turned to glance at the Duke while Mika raised a brow in confusion. "Alastor, while you do hold much power, and while he is indeed your new escort, Mikazuki is still my assistant, and as such, I still command him and whatever he does regarding his clients! And though this may seem _heartbreaking_ to you at least, but Mikazuki requires rest! He ran across _Pentagram City _just to kill a bastard, dammit!"

"Hm, fair enough," quipt Alastor with a mild shrug as he waved a hand in the air, not even bothering to give Barbatos a second glance as he opened the door to his palace. "I'll be outside tomorrow. Don't keep me waiting, _Mikazuki Augus_."

And the way Alastor had said his name made Mika wish just a little that he stuck with Little Hatchetman.

* * *

**So this will most likely be the last chapter I'll publish in quite some time.**

**Don't get me wrong, it's fun to write this and all that, but sometimes you just wanna lay back and calm down with the updates for just a while. So for now, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I certainly did enjoy writing it at least. **

**Alastor's mannerisms were hopefully accurate. The only new addition I gave him was the inclusion of some 1920's lingo. **

**Anyhow, I suppose now is a good time to head onto the reviews… if I had any.**

***cough* see you next time.**


	6. The Pilot and the Overlord

To say that Alastor was an enigma would be quite the understatement.

On the outside, the 'Radio Demon', as most called him, was quite the gentleman. A respectable, well mannered demon that just so happened to be one of the most notorious Overlords of Hell. Of course, being the guy's escort did teach Mika a thing or two about the Radio Demon… especially the reason as to why he was as notorious as he Barbatos said he was.

Mika was quick to learn that Alastor was not just powerful, but cunning. Though he possessed enough magical power to rival a handful of Hellborn Overlords, at times even surpassing some of them, with the obvious exception of Lucifer at least, Alastor hid his prowess behind a carefully crafted layer of deceit. His gentlemanly nature was nothing more than a simple mask to hide his true self, and while others were tricked by it, especially the one that Alastor enjoyed referring to as _Velvet_, Mika found himself seeing right through it. That was a perk of being a child soldier that regularly worked with people that were similar to Alastor while he was still alive, he supposed.

Due to their new long distance work relationship, Barbatos found it prudent to give Mika what was charitably called a Hellphone, a touchscreen mobile phone that had a name that even Mika groaned at. The phone itself was pretty neat, though Mika did question why there was an entire folder of porn at one point. He was quick to get rid of it for more storage space, however, and aside from the folders of questionable fetishes, Mika only really cared about the contact page, which had only Barbatos' contact at the moment. For whatever reason Alastor didn't have a phone… though Mika never bothered to bring the subject up.

True to his word, traveling with Alastor was certainly not dull. Far from it, really. Seeing as how he was an Overlord, Alastor was on the shitlist of quite a bothersome bunch of wankers, to say the least. Other Overlords wished to have his head served to them on a platter, and a select few would probably enjoy consuming it, no doubt! At first, Mika had assumed that Alastor needed an escort like himself to keep himself safe… though after the Radio Demon had dealt with a handful of goons sent by some _Vox _fella with relative ease, Mika began thinking otherwise.

"I only keep you around because you provide better entertainment than I can provide myself, Mikazuki Augus! Variety is the spice of life, as they say!" reasoned Alastor after Mika questioned why he was even brought along on the Radio Demon's wild trip across Hell. The Pilot was not paid enough to put up with this, but a client was a client he supposed…

And besides, Mika would at least admit that working with Alastor offered up jobs with more variety than the usual stuff he'd have to do for Barbatos.

* * *

**After leaving Barbatos' palace**

It became rather obvious to Mika that Alastor was an old fashion sorta guy not too long after they departed.

The way he walked, talked and even stood was extremely… foreign to Mika, to say the least. The Radio Demon carried himself with an air of confidence in spite of his somewhat goofy getup and wide smile that was always present on his face. That smile of his had the potential to be rather comical… though it was still unnerving to Augus, so much so that he preferred to avoid making eye contact with the guy as much as possible.

"Is something wrong, my murderous little gremlin?" inquired Alastor when he began noticing how the Pilot was deliberately avoiding eye contact with him, prompting him to lean towards Mika and widen his toothy smile. In response, Mika glanced at him and deepened his frown, a rather stark contrast to Alastor's wide grin, prompting the Radio Demon to straighten himself out and put a hand to his chest as he laughed, sending a mild shiver up the pilot's spine. He would eventually get used to that laugh and smile, but as of now, it still unnerved him. "What's the matter? Did the Hellhound rip your throat out or something? If so then you may need to get that checked out!"

"No," was Mika's response as he flexed his _Lupus Rex _hand, his frown somehow managing to grow deeper as he spoke. "My throat is still here.

"But I'm not sure if I'm safe from the Hellhound just yet."

* * *

**Three days after leaving **

Mika's first phone call came during a walk around _Damnation Peak_, where Alastor wished to hail a cab or something to get to _Pentagram City_, which from what Mika knew seemed to be the capital of Hell, not because it was noteworthy or anything, but more because it was conveniently smack dab at the center of Hell.

Conveniently enough, the target, or in this case the location that Barbatos wished for Mika to tear down, was located in _Damnation Peak_, and, much to Alastor's delight, was owned by a fellow Overlord known as _Vox_. Mika didn't exactly know who he was and why Alastor was as ecstatic as he was for Mika being tasked to destroy his property, so Barbatos was quick to tell him the basics on the guy. As for Alastor's relationship with Vox, it was left to Mika's imagination.

"_Basically he's a guy who has a TV for a head and can control tech, capiche? Anyways just destroy the damn building. Oh, and please don't look in the crates," _was the brief explanation on his latest job offered by Barbatos before he hung up, much to Mika's chagrin as he pocketed his Hellphone. Behind him, Alastor's smile grew in size as he watched Mika sigh and turn towards him.

"So, my little fellow, you were assigned to tear down one of Vox's warehouses, hm?" inquired Alastor with a cheeky grin, prompting Mika to raise his brows in apparent surprise. Alastor, on the other hand, held back a snicker as he explained himself. "You were speaking with the Speaker on."

"...oh," was all Mika could mutter out as Alastor laughed at his expense, though before long Mika was on his way to tear down this warehouse owned by Vox, with Alastor trailing him all the while, humming eagerly all the while. He was quite eager to see the look on Vox's face when he realized that one of his many warehouses was torn down. Sure, it probably wouldn't do much to Vox in the long run, but damn it'd probably annoy the TV headed wanker to no end when he found out…

It was safe to say that Mika was an efficient killer. Alastor knew that he was a killer from the start after having bore witness to the aftermath of a handful of the massacres he had committed before now. To see him in action, however… it made the Radio Demon realize that he had severely underestimated Mika's skill.

As Mika hid behind a crate in the warehouse he was told to blow up, using it as cover to absorb the gunshots from the opposition, and as Alastor bore witness to the whole thing from the shadows, the Radio Demon couldn't help but smile wider than usual, a handful of scenarios already playing in his mind as to what Mika would do next.

Currently, there were three demons in the warehouse alongside Mika. Seeing as how they worked for Vox, these demons were somewhat mechanical in nature, with all of them possessing a robotic head of sorts. From where he stood, Alastor spotted a demon with a circular head that had a single monoeye while another had a mouthplate alongside twin optics. The third seemed to have a TV head as well, though instead of the eyes and mouth that Vox had, this one's TV head displayed only text, and at the moment, it displayed various insults targeted towards Mika, most of which calling him a coward for hiding as he and his fellow Vox lackeys rained lead down on Augus. All three of them wielded assault rifles that seemed much more modern than a majority of the Tommyguns the other gangs Mika had to deal with in the past used.

Mika himself seemed impossibly calm at the moment, even as his cover began getting ripped apart by the colley of bullets that were meant to put him ten feet under. Alastor was just a little confused as to why, and he raised a brow when the Pilot picked up a sizable rock from the ground with his _Lupus Rex _hand.

With the greatest of ease, Mika flung the rock over his cover and right at the three Vox lackies. As soon as the rock landed between the legs of the TV headed goon, the two who were able to speak yelled out in fear while the TV headed fella had a massive exclamation mark on his head. And at that point, Alastor seemed to understand what Mika was doing.

'_Pretending to throw a grenade, not bad,' _thought Alastor as his grin widened, impressed. His grin only grew in size when he saw Mika take advantage of the opposition's confusion and vault over the crate he was hiding behind.

Without wasting a moment, Mika aimed his pistol and shot the TV headed goon straight in the head. The guy's TV screen head shattered as soon as the bullet hit, and the goon fell back almost immediately after. As for the other two, they attempted to recover and blast Mika with their rifles, though Mika acted quickly and tackled the goon with the monoeye, causing the two of them to fall back onto the ground.

His mouthplated partner gasped as he instinctively aimed and fired at Mikazuki's general direction, though the pilot was quick to use the guy he tackled down as a meat shield. About ten bullets were lodged into the moneyed goon before Mika threw his now limp body at the one who was firing at him. The impact was enough to disorientate the guy long enough for Mika to close the distance between the two, and the pilot was quick to use his _Lupus Rex _arm to push the mouthplated goon's rifle upwards, causing him to fire up into the air briefly before Augus launched his knee at the guy's abdomen, causing him to fall to the ground and lose his grip on his rifle.

"You… little shit," groaned the goon as he glared up at Mika as he aimed his pistol at the guy. At first, the goon thought that he could perhaps stall for a while and grab his rifle… though he was quickly corrected after Mika fired three bullets into his head. Though apparently made of metal, the bullets were able to pierce his metallic skull with great ease. The body of the shot Vox goon began convulsing a little before it finally went limp, prompting Mika to sigh as he holstered his pistol, and right then, Alastor stepped out of the shadows and gave a round of applause.

"Bravo, Mikazuki Augus! Bra-Vo!" praised Alastor as he gingerly stepped over the corpses of the murdered Vox goons. He offered the goon who was used as a meat shield a quick glance before fixing his gaze squarely on Augus, who was cleaning some of the blood off his Tekkadan jacket as Alastor spoke. "You really were quite a crafty little bastard back there, I'll admit! To think of using a rock to distract these loathsome imbeciles? Truly outrageous! Good show, I say!"

Mika didn't have any real response to that as he reached behind his back and pulled out a handful of remote detonated charges. Alastor raised a brow when he saw them, though he didn't question how Mika got them or why he even had them as he watched the Pilot plant the charges onto every corner of the building.

In truth, Mika got them from I.M.P. That company seemed to like him quite a bit, and for the most part they seemed to run into each other quite often…

As soon as he set them up, and after they left the warehouse and got some distance away from it, Mika at the very least allowed Alastor to detonate the charges. The Radio Demon did seem flattered to have 'such an honor', as he put it, and he wasted no time in pushing down on the button.

And within a second, the warehouse exploded in the distance, with the ensuing shockwave being enough to ruffle up their hair and blind them for a handful of seconds. Mika himself had to shield his eyes with his _Lupus Rex _arm to keep himself from going permanently blind whilst Alastor simply watched the explosion with a gleeful expression.

"My word, that is quite an explosion!" proclaimed Alastor as he witnessed the mushroom cloud rising in the air. Meanwhile, Mika lowered his _Lupus Rex _arm as the light began dying down and raised a brow at the size of the explosion.

'_What exactly did I.M.P give me…?' _was all he thought as he began wondering if I.M.P had accidentally given him a miniature nuke.

But ah well… it got the job done so who cares. The radiation was something that the Sinners of _Damnation Peak _could handle… probably.

* * *

**Five days after leaving **

'_350 years ago, an event occurred where the fuckers on Earth decided to create these things called __**Mobile Armours**__, some mechs with AI or something. Why? Well fuck if I know! What I do know is that they killed a lot of people!"_

As he read that mentally, Alastor took a sip of what one would hope to be coffee, ignoring the screaming in the background as he sat inside a cafe located in _Pentagram City_. Of course, he did spare a quick glance outside the cafe just in time to see Mikazuki get thrown straight past the cafe window, though Alastor shrugged nonchalantly at that as he turned back to his book.

'_These __**Mobile Armours **__killed roughly one third of humanity, which makes me question why the fuckers even gave em AI! They have these __**Graze **__thingamajigs! Use em! Aurg. But overall, this did contribute a ton to the overpopulation crisis in Hell…'_

Licking his thumb, Alastor gingerly flipped to the next page as outside, a muscular looking reptile demon attempted to slam his fist down onto Mika, who dodged a little and leapt up to give the reptile a headbutt, causing it to stagger back and allowing Mika to fire at it thrice with his pistol, though due to his scales, the bullets were not able to pierce his target's chest. After he realized that conventional bullets wouldn't do much, and after noticing that his head was bleeding a little after that headbutt, the pilot dodged another attempted punch from his opponent.

'_Of course on the upside, humans did create these kickass mecha to counter the __**Mobile Armour **__threat. Called Gundams, there were 72 made, all named after the 72 Demons of Ars Goetia, ironically enough. Coincidental but fuck it."_

As he read that paragraph, Alastor raised a brow as Mika was thrown into the cafe he was in through the glass window. The pilot was just about to crash into Alastor, though before he could the Radio Demon held his hand up and stopped Mika mid-flight. With a flick of his wrist, Alastor reorientated Mika and placed him back down onto the ground.

"Please keep this outside, Mikazuki. I wish to enjoy reading this book," quipt Alastor as Mika turned to him with a raised brow. Right at that moment, the reptilian demon attempted to make use of Mika's confusion and pounce onto him, though before he could, Alastor snapped his fingers, creating a portal that allowed a tentacle to burst out and wrap around the demon within a moment's notice. Without much effort, the tentacle tossed the reptilian demon back out of the cafe, with Mika raising a brow at that. It would've been nice if he would actively help him out… but it could be worse. "Go on now, toodle loo."

And with that, Mika leapt out of the shattered window of the cafe and continued his little brawl with this reptilian demon. Alastor, as per usual, tuned out the noise as he continued reading, this time playing some classical music from god knows where to tune out the noise more effectively.

'_So there's this white one, __**Barbatos**__. It fought alongside __**Flauros**__ and __**Gusion **__on Mars near the end of that Calamity War, as most people call this event. __**Flauros **__was apparently destroyed during this event, but fuck if I care. As for __**Barbs **__and __**Gusi**__, well I don't fuckin know.'_

Smiling wider as he took another sip, Alastor perked his ears up a little when he heard the sound of metal hitting the pavement. Out of curiosity, he turned to see that the reptilian demon had apparently tossed a car at Mika. The pilot was able to dodge it, though the car did begin leaking some oil.

The reptilian demon didn't seem to notice this, as he attempted to strike Mika with both its fists. Mika responded by dodging to the side, and before his target could recover, Mika noticed the oil leaking from the busted vehicle and raised a brow… only to nearly smirk as he got an idea, prompting him to rub the fingers of his _Lupus Rex _arm together rather hard.

'_Quite recently, the __**Barbatos **__was rediscovered by some kid. Dunno how, and frankly I don't care. As long as it stops overpopulating the damn place then I'll be fine with it.' _

And at that, the Radio Demon bookmarked that page as he heard an explosion go off. After he shut the book, Alastor smiled widely as he watched Mika enter the cafe through the front door, apparently having enough decency to not enter through the broken window, seeming just a little irritated as he entered.

"Nicely done, Mikazuki!" congratulated Alastor as he stood up. In response, Mika simply snorted as Alastor offered Mika an extra cup of whatever he was drinking. Mika took a sniff of that before rejecting the offer, prompting Al' to shrug and nonchalantly drink the extra cup."More for myself I suppose."

Meanwhile, Augus decided to not ask what he was drinking, though he did acknowledge how disgusting it smelled.

* * *

**Eight days after leaving **

According to Alastor, the Overlord known as _Valentino_ was a spider demon, and probably due to this, he had a fondness towards fellow spider demons.

And as such, when he and Alastor were ambushed by a spider demon dual wielding Tommyguns in four of her visible hands, Mika was quick to guess that she worked for Valentino. Of course, Alastor did give some of his insight on the matter after the spider demon had attempted to kill the two with a dynamite cluster.

"Well whaddya know, Valentino decided to try and kill me yet again! Of course it would've been more respectable if he tried to do so on his own, but the effort is there!" proclaimed Alastor after that dynamite cluster blew up the cassette building that he and Mika were in moments prior. Mika himself was more surprised that the two of them managed to survive that explosion, though he was quick to readjust his priorities when he one who attempted to kill the two aimed her Tommyguns at them.

Alastor responded to the act of aggression by simply disappearing into thin air, baffling Mika just a little, though before he could start mentally swearing at Alastor, the spider demon began firing at him, prompting him to instinctively lunge to the side, taking cover behind a chunk of debris that had been blown off the building they were just in. As he hid behind it, the pilot pulled his pistol out of his jacket and cocked the barrel backwards, readying it for the ensuing firefight.

"Step out and face me like a man, bitch! Less' you lost your pair, you've got no reason to hide!" taunted the spider demon, though Mika was content with ignoring her taunting as he knew that if he were to even peek over the edge of his cover, he would have his head taken off by the volley of Tommygun rounds that were shot at him. Instead, he took in a deep breath and clenched his pistol tightly. His opening would come soon enough…

And as he guessed it, his opening came. Before twenty seconds had even passed, Mika heard the distinct _click _of the emptied clip of a Tommygun, and as soon as he heard it, the pilot poked his head out over the chunk of debris he was hiding behind and quickly took aim. The pilot emptied an entire clip at her, and while she was able to dodge most of the shots, a handful of his bullets hit the Tommygun she held in her upper set of arms and caused her to lose her grip on it.

Taking advantage of that, and considering how he had an empty clip, Mika grimaced and pocketed his pistol before he charged straight at the spider demon, and by the time he was in front of her, the spider had finished reloading, prompting Mika to grimace wider as he shot his _Lupus Rex _arm out to catch the Tommygun before she could properly aim it at him. The pilot had forced the barrel of the Tommygun to point down towards the ground, and try as she might, that limb of his was not going to budge anytime soon.

As soon as she realized that he wasn't going to relent, the spider demon growled and attempted to strike Mika with one of her upper arms, though Mika grabbed it with his regular hand before it could make contact with his cheek. At that, however, the spider demon smirked, knowing that she had another arm to make use of, and attempted to punch Mika with her other arm.

Before she could, however, a compartment on the underside of Mika's _Lupus Rex _forearm suddenly burst open, shocking the spider demon. Her shock only grew when a mechanical sub-arm emerged from within. Said sub-arm grasped onto the spider demon's remaining arm with its three clawed grip, and despite its spindly nature, the sub-arm held onto the spider demon's wrist like a vice, refusing to budge in spite of how aggressively the spider demon jerked her hand around.

"Well, looks like we're at a stalemate now, huh?" quipt the Valentino lackey as Mika glared at her. Before she could say anything else, however, Mika reared his head back and, without any warning whatsoever, rocketed it back forward, headbutting the spider demon with all his might and causing her to scream as she stumbled back. "You cheap lil-"

Mika didn't give her any time to finish that sentence, as he responded with a shoulder tackle that sent her sprawling back further, even if she did maintain her footing. Taking advantage of her disorientation, Mika reached into his jacket and pulled both his pistol and an extra clip out of it. Rather quickly, the pilot used his _Lupus Rex _sub-arm to remove the empty clip and inserted the fresh one in it, and as soon as he was done, and as soon as the spider demon had recovered, Mika just tossed the empty pistol clip at her, smacking her over the head with it and disorientating her for the third time in a row.

This time, however, as soon as she recovered, she saw that Mika was aiming his pistol right at her. And before she could even say anything, Augus placed one between her eyes, causing her to lose her grip on her remaining Tommygun and fall back with a loud thud. And with that done, Mika simply sighed while he holstered his pistol back into his jacket.

'_One… two…' _counted Mika mentally, and right as he got to _three_, Alastor popped up beside him, smiling as devilishly as ever as the pilot turned to fix his questioning gaze at him.

"Marvelously done, Mikazuki Augus! The possibility of you using that spindly little contraption of yours to even the odds against that spider had not entered my mind until I saw you do just that!" congratulated Alastor as Mika simply sighed. There was, as usual, no response from him as he gave a mild nod, and just like that, they were on their way to another part of _Pentagram City_.

Along the way, however, Mika noticed the massive clocktower that spoke of the time _until the next extermination_. The pilot raised a brow when he saw that they had roughly five months before the next extermination came, and it made him snort.

He knew what the extermination was, a yearly cleanse undertaken by Heaven to potentially solve the overpopulation issue that Hell was facing. There was no holding back on Heaven's side, at least according to Barbatos, as the angels sent down to slaughter the demons held nothing back and spared no one. Only high ranking demons or various Hellborns, such as Overlords or the stronger Goetial Demons were able to combat them and win, or at least that was what Barbatos said.

Though the thought of angels did put most denizens of Hell on edge, Mika found himself unphased by the whole concept. After all, he did combat an angel of sorts in his lifetime and killed it…

* * *

**Two weeks after leaving **

What a strange request this was.

Typically, Barbatos would ask for Mika to kill or destroy a certain person or thing, not meet up with an apparently important figure of Hell. So it came as quite a surprise to both Mikazuki _and _Alastor when Barbatos rang and told Mika that he wished for him to meet up with the rather infamous Hellborn Family that went by the _von Eldritch _name.

Mika did at least recognise that family name. It floated around from time to time, often uttered by random passer bys in the same vein as the Magne Family, which Mika remembered as Lucifer and Lilith's family name. To have a family name be muttered with nearly or just as much reverence as the Magne Family would usually call for at least some respect towards the family, though frankly speaking, Mika couldn't give much less of a damn. A royal family in Hell would never be superior to Tekkadan in his eyes, after all.

"I must say, to even be told to meet anyone from the von Eldritch family is quite an honor… for someone like yourself at least. I personally have met the current head of the family too many times to count, so meeting them in person once more is simply a nuisance," quipt Alastor as Mika and himself stood by the front door to the von Eldritch palace, a massive, dark purple and teal castle that seemed to be roughly thrice the size of Barbatos'. Just goes to show the power difference between an Overlord and Goetial Demon, he supposed…

"I only them by name, nothing more," admitted Mika as he slammed his _Lupus Rex _fist up against the wooden door of the palace once more, his irritation growing as time went by. The two had been standing outside for roughly five minutes by now, and no one had come to even check up on them! Thankfully enough, Alastor found it at least appropriate to give Augus a quick history lesson on the von Eldritch family. Or at the very least… his microphone cane did.

"_The von Eldritch family are among the older Hellborn families. They're a few millenia below the Magnes, sure, but they're close enough to be noteworthy!" _explained the microphone cane as Alastor held it close to Mika's ear to make sure he was processing all that information. _"If anything, they're roughly on par with the Magnes in terms of strength, but the current head of the family is not charismatic or popular enough to overthrow good ol' Luci!"_

"...right," muttered Mika, and right at that moment, the door to the von Eldritch palace opened just a little inwards, prompting everyone to turn towards it and spot a sort of octopus looking demon peek out at them with a curious expression. The octopus wore a butler's uniform, with four arms poking from the sleeves while the other four acted as legs. On its goofy looking head were a pair of… shockingly normal looking eyes, though there was no mouth or nose to speak of.

"Visiting hours were never a thing, scram," growled the demon as he moved to shut the door, only to be stopped when Mika jammed his foot between the cracks of the door. The octopus demon's brows lowered in apparent irritation as he glared at Mika, who remained as neutral as he usually was. "Hey pipsqueak, it's best if you-"

"Barbatos sent us," explained Mika as Alastor smirked at the butler's reaction, though before long, the octopus demon grumbled and begrudgingly opened the door.

"I see. Lady Eldritch has been expecting you," stated the demon in a shockingly professional tone, perhaps an attempt to hide his previous rudeness. Mika himself raised a brow at that while Alastor smirked at the octopus demon, who quite clearly didn't find his presence welcomed at all. "As for the Radio Demon…"

"I shall be joining little Mika!" stated Alastor as he patted Mika over the head, smirking at the reaction he got from the butler, who glared at Mika questioningly. In response, Mika shrugged dismissively, prompting Alastor to chuckle a little as he held his monocle rather sinisterly. "Don't worry, my spiffy little doorman! I have no intention of bringing harm upon _Helsa_! She isn't even worth killing at this point!"

At that, the octopus demon sighed. He wasn't paid enough for this… definitely not enough to worry about some overlord's daughter, so with a sigh, he stepped aside and allowed both Alastor and Mika to enter.

"Whatever you say, Radio Remon," growled the octopus demon as Mika and Alastor entered. The butler shut the door before rushing off to retrieve whoever he wished to get, leaving Mika and Alastor behind in the main hall of the von Eldritch palace for quite some time. The main hall wasn't much, being coloured primarily in navy blue and… hot pink? Mika didn't think that any Overlord worth their salt would use such a colour, but he couldn't complain, he supposed. After all, a good friend did love that colour...

In an attempt to keep boredom away, Alastor busied himself by staring at various pictures that hung all around the main hall of the palace, with Mika by his side as he did. The pilot didn't have any real opinion on most of the images hung up on the walls, considering how they were simply family meetings and were too professional looking for his liking… though he did take note of one with Lucifer and Lilith. Four other demons were present in the picture as well, though the more noteworthy one was the pale girl with red cheeks. Almost the splitting image of Lilith, she was, only with Lucifer's cheeks…

"I always did think that Lucifer was trying to shag my style," quipt Alastor as he observed the portrait, smiling as he rubbed his chin. To his side, Mika gave him a dumbfounded look while Alastor lifted his hand up to eye level and clenched it. "It's oh so obvious! The smile! The accursed smile! That classless Overlord wishes to mirror mine so badly that he refuses to stop smiling!"

"Right," was all Mika muttered as he recalled seeing Lucifer not smile a handful of times, though he didn't bother bringing it up as approaching footsteps could be heard. At that, the pilot turned towards the source and raised a brow when he saw an approaching demon.

The first thing Mika noticed was the absurdly long white hair. It was long enough to put Kudelia's to shame… and it seemed to move on its own as well. How that was possible was beyond his comprehension, though he was quick to dismiss it as he noticed the approaching demon's oddly grey skin. She wore a jacket of sorts that had a fluffy collar which seemed rather cozy and four buttons near the belly.

It took her a while, but the demon eventually stopped walking in front of both Alastor and Mika. And it seemed as though only Mika noticed her, however, as Alastor… he was nowhere to be found! Blinking as he turned towards where Alastor used to be, Mika raised his brows in shock when he realized that the Overlord in red had quite literally vanished! How did the Radio Demon do this… and why…?!

"You claim to be an associate of Barbatos, do you not?" inquired the demon as Mika raised a brow, his thoughts moving from Alastor back to the demon before him as soon as her voice was heard. Her tone was condescending, and it told Mika quite a bit of who she was, though he kept his thoughts to himself as he slipped his regular hand into his pocket before nodding, prompting the demon before him to nod as well. "I see. Tell me, associate, where is my payment?"

"...payment?" muttered a confused Mika as the female devil before him narrowed her dark grey eyes at him, her light green cornea narrowing as well as she attempted to intimidate him. And to her credit, Mika did feel just a little menaced by her display a little at that, though he didn't respond, prompting the demon to groan.

"Several months ago, Barbatos came to me for financial assistance in forming this _Iron Flower Brigade_ project. A terrible plan from an equally wretched demon such as himself, but I was willing to play along," explained the demon impatiently as she tangled up a bit of her hair with her left index finger. "But after his plan failed miserably, he hasn't given my family the payment he promised. To make matters worse, he has cut off all contact between himself and my family! And as such, I, _Helsa von Eldritch_, the second heir to the Eldritch household, have taken matters into my own hands. I wish for you to provide payment this instant, or I can promise you…"

The demon, Helsa as she had introduced herself, bent down towards Mika, who noticeably recoiled. As she got closer, her hair began coming to life as they began moving on their own, curving around until their unnaturally sharp ends were pointing towards Mika, who remained as neutral as he usually was. His _Lupus Rex _hand was now splayed open, ready to strike the demon before him should she intend to start a fight, while his regular one moved into his jacket, fingering his pistol as Helsa began showing her pointed teeth, her mouth curved up into a rather menacing smile that promised suffering in more ways than one.

"_You won't be going back to Barbatos __**ever again**_," finished Helsa in a rather distorted voice as Mika allowed a mild grimace to show. This lady certainly wasn't one to sugarcoat her words, and he supposed that was a little respectable, but respect was the least he was worried about as he got ready to whip his pistol out.

And right then…

"Ah, Mikazuki!" proclaimed Alastor as a nearby door burst open, prompting both Helsa and Mika to turn towards it. Neither had expected Alastor to just burst out of seemingly nowhere, and his sudden arrival seemed to have sucked all the tension out of the room as Helsa went back to normal while Mika let go of his pistol. Helsa herself seemed just a _little _shocked to see Alastor in her palace to say the least… though vice versa, Alastor didn't even care as he approached the pilot and wrapped an arm around his back. "I do quite apologise for disappearing so abruptly, my murderous little gremlin! I simply got tired of standing around waiting and decided to venture out on my own! I hope you don't mind!"

"..." no response, prompting Alastor to laugh.

"Of course you don't!" proclaimed the Radio Demon as he stood up and ruffled the little pilot's hair, making his ahoge crooked in the process. Once he was done, he finally noticed Helsa standing in front of his escort, prompting him to raise a brow in confusion. "Say, Mikazuki, when did she arrive?"

"When you left," deadpanned Augus as he fixed his ahoge, prompting Alastor to laugh once more as Helsa looked between the pilot and the Radio Demon, bewildered.

"Ah, I do suppose that I have a knack for missing some beautiful meetings," quipt Alastor before turning towards Helsa with a rather sly grin. The von Eldritch's second heir winced just a little at that, and she winced even more noticeably when Alastor bent down to look her in the eye and to offer a handshake. "Alastor, a pleasure to meet you!"

"Alastor… the _**Radio Demon**_…?!" demanded Helsa as she swatted Alastor's hand to the side. The Radio Demon didn't seem to be offended by that, as he held his monocle and chuckled, making Helsa wince as she placed a hand on her hip. "Spare me your mockery and answer the question. If you don't, you'll-"

"Tell me, Helsa von Eldritch, is the sky red?" inquired Alastor cheekily as Helsa raised a brow at that. Before she could respond, however, Alastor spoke up. "Of course I'm Alastor, the Radio Demon, miss von Eldritch! I must ask, why do people always ask questions to which they have the answers to?!"

"Yes, but… why…" muttered Helsa, though before she could finish, Alastor's grin widened, catching Helsa off guard. Meanwhile, Alastor smirked as he rested his elbow atop Mikazuki's head. Augus didn't seem to mind… or if he did he didn't seem to care at least as his expression did noticeably darken a little at being used as an elbow stand, much to Helsa's amusement. "Why the fuck are you sticking with… a Barbatos lackey?"

"Because he amuses me!" proclaimed Alastor as he fiddled with Mika's ahoge. Once again, Mika didn't seem to care in spite of his expression which screamed bloody murder, and Alastor chuckled more at that. "But I must say, I overheard something about… you wishing to not allow Mika to return to Barbatos, yes?"

"You heard?" muttered Mika, a brow raised as the Radio Demon laughed once more.

"Why yes, and I must confess, miss von Eldritch, I am rather fond of this little killer, so if you do indeed manage to kill him a second time, well…" responded Alastor as he fixed his gaze on Helsa, pushing his elbow off Mika's head and holding his hands behind his back as he spoke. And a moment after, Helsa widened her eyes as Alastor's form began to distort. His limbs lengthened until he appeared to be over five times his usual size, and his 'antlers' had grown much, much larger. That smile of his grew to immense proportions, and various symbols began floating around his distorted figure as everything around them became red.

The static and distortion lasted for a handful of seconds, but it was enough to make Helsa gasp and step back. Mika didn't seem to know what happened, as he raised a confused brow at Helsa's sudden step back. Meanwhile, Alastor chuckled briefly as he adjusted his monocle, ignoring Helsa's growl as he did. Her growl and grimace slackened, however, after Alastor blank and his red eyes darkened a shade or two.

"I'll make sure to tear down your entire family and sully your legacy," finished Alastor, smiling as he blank, his eyes returning to their usual shade as he concluded his little speech to Helsa, who winced at that as she crossed her arms. "Do you hear me, my dear?"

A mild groan was all Helsa could give at that point, and for a brief moment, silence reigned as Alastor hummed softly and twirled his microphone cane in his free hand. Meanwhile, Mika kept his gaze on Helsa and vice versa, with the Hellborn bitterly wondering how the Sinner even managed to become associated with the Radio Demon.

"Now, I must ask, what was this thing about payment?" inquired Alastor as he tapped his microphone cane. Upon hearing that, Helsa turned towards him and winced when she saw that he was giving her a look that just said _go ahead and try to continue that conversation, I dare you_, prompting her to sigh in defeat. Though she was strong, Helsa knew she wasn't on par with the infamous Radio Demon, and as such she had to concede for now.

"Nothing. We can speak of this next time. For now, leave my damn house," growled Helsa as Alastor chuckled.

"I thought as much, miss von Eldritch," quipt Alastor as Mika raised a brow. The Radio Demon took it a step further as he bowed down and held a hand out in a gentlemanly manner to perhaps kiss Helsa's hand as a gesture of 'respect', though Helsa just grimaced in disgust.

"Just fuck off you two!" growled Helsa, and at that, Alastor chuckled.

"As you wish, madame. Come, my little escort! Let us take our leave!"

And at that, both Alastor and Mika left the von Eldritch household… with Helsa glaring holes into the back of Mika's head in the process. The pilot could practically feel her burn metaphorical holes into the back of his head as they left, though he didn't question it as they walked off.

Meanwhile, Helsa decided that perhaps her father would wish to know about Barbatos' newfound association with Alastor when he returned home from _Styx Row_.

* * *

**2 weeks and five days after leaving, present day**

"And where were you?" growled Mika in irritation as Alastor chuckled his usual chuckle, having returned from wherever he was at to see a rather irritated Mikazuki glaring at him. While it was… expected for a demon with as much power as himself to leave such battles like this to someone like Mika, it would've been nice if Alastor had stayed behind to help him get rid of that Vox goon with his magic. At the very least, it would've saved him a pistol clip, especially against his latest target, an Ankylosaurus looking demon which made Mika lose an army's worth of ammo clips during their little skirmish.

"Oh I was just working on your payment," responded Alastor as he held a palm out. In response to that, Mika raised a brow, only to raise both of them as a pack of raisins materialised in Alastor's hand. Noticing this, Alastor chuckled as he adjusted his monocle. "What? You took me for an unreasonable demon? Oh, far from it, little pilot! You've provided some of the best entertainment for me in the past few centuries of my life! And as such, you deserve at least some sort of compensation!"

This had to be a trick… Mika knew it… and yet if it was, Mika fell for it hook, line and sinker as he somewhat cautiously took the pack of raisins from Alastor's palm. Looking between it and Alastor, the pilot noticed that Alastor was staring at him expectantly, and rather reluctantly, he reached into the pack and picked a raisin out. He eyed it closely before sniffing it. Perhaps a little too cautious of him, but experience has taught him to not lower his guard around the Radio Demon.

Much to his shock, the raisin smelled rather normal, and almost without a second thought, he tossed it into his mouth and… widened his eyes at how sweet it tasted. Staring up at Alastor, the pilot raised a bewildered brow as the Radio Demon chuckled, holding onto his monocle as he spoke.

"I have my ways, little pilot," assured Alastor as he patted Mika over the head, twirling his microphone cane in his hand as he spoke. "Consider this motivation for the foreseeable future. I expect more entertainment from you, my dear Gundam!"

And if he were honest… if he could get more of these raisins, he wouldn't mind working for Alastor for just a little while longer…

* * *

**What a strange chapter this is. But I'll admit to enjoying writing it. **

**By all means, this chapter is filler. Of course I do hope it was enjoyable filler at the very least. The scenes were fun to work on, and my proofreader enjoyed scanning through the chapter. **

**Next chapter will be rather nifty… hopefully. **

**Hey by the way did I mention that all the previous chapters were updated to have better grammar hopefully. **

**Review reply time**

* * *

**SPRTN544: well I'm glad you enjoyed it! Personalities are what I enjoy writing, so I'm glad I kept them intact. Hopefully I continue to do so in the future**

**Guest: ...eventually **

**megakdre100: well, have a nice read**

**King of 2211: well it seems as though you enjoyed reading this, and I'm happy about that! Here's more! **

**Cylon One: all I can say is that you did get some things correct… but I won't say what *wink***

* * *

**Oh lord its 1AM in the morning aaaaaaaah**


	7. A niffty new friend

**Roughly a month after working with Alastor**

The 'hitman' line of work was not what one could consider to be a clean job, both in a figurative and literal sense, and Mika knew about that little fact even before he went to Hell.

To have one's attire stained beyond recognition due to the blood or any other bodily fluids was to be expected in this line of work, and Mikazuki was used to that by now. Having taken quite a few lives without the help of a Mobile Suit did that to a person, he supposed, as he didn't seem to feel disgusted whenever he returned from an assignment issued to him whilst covered head to toe in blood.

On the polar opposite end of the spectrum, however… Alastor didn't seem to like how messy Mika usually was after returning from a mission that either Barbatos or, however rarely, he had assigned to him.

For the most part, Alastor did_ attempt _to ignore Mikazuki's lack of cleanliness. However, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't utterly _disgusted _by Mika's lack of hygiene, namely how he refused to take a shower unless absolutely necessary! By Lucifer, this may have been Hell, but even devils need to have class! Especially someone who was working for him (however temporarily)! As things were now, Mika, who would only take a shower every two weeks or so, was no better than a classless demon that didn't deserve to be in his presence!

And sure he did give some good entertainment, but in Alastor's eyes, if you didn't look, or in this case _smell_ presentable, then you shouldn't be providing any entertainment at all!

To counteract this, Alastor opted to bring in perhaps the cleanest little critter he knew to attempt to alleviate Mika's bad hygiene. Sure, Mika would probably blow her brains out the moment she got a little too close to him… but Alastor was confident that wouldn't happen. After all, Mika did seem to have a thing for small, petite and flat chested girls. That and his little friend was a hard target to hit, so the Radio Demon was sure that his plan would go off without a hitch.

… probably.

* * *

"Mikazuki, I wish to introduce you to someone!"

Blinking as he was called, Mika raised a brow as he turned to face Alastor, who stood rather confidently with his hands behind his back. Currently, the two were standing in the middle of a hotel room that Alastor was kind enough to book for them. Said hotel room was rather spacious, with a broken king sized bed that had some exposed springs, a mini-fridge that seemed to be unable to do its job and a table alongside some chairs that appeared to have been broken and taped back together multiple times. The bathroom was still unexplored as of now. According to Alastor, hotels of this quality were considered 'great' by Hell's standards. Mika himself supposed that at least the beds were soft in spite of the exposed springs.

Having returned from a mission that was given to him over the phone, Mika appeared somewhat exhausted, to say the least, with his shoulders slouched a little more noticeably than usual. This was a good thing, thought Al', as it meant he'd probably react slower and hopefully not be able to shoot the head off his contact as quickly as he usually could.

"Hm?" groaned Mika as he craned his head up real high to look Al' in the eye, appearing somewhat confused. Meanwhile, Alastor's smile began quivering just a little as his nose began to cry out in a metaphorically pained way. While not completely unbearable, the stench of death that emanated from Mikazuki was impossible to ignore, and while he hated to admit it, the smell was almost enough to make his smile falter. Still, he held strong as he snapped his fingers, mentally praying to a nonspecific deity in hopes that his contact would somehow be able to clean Mika up.

Within a second of Alastor snapping his fingers, a black puffball dropped in from the ceiling, creating a hole in it in the process. The demon who occupied the room above them yelled out various curses the moment the black puffball dropped in, though they were quickly silenced when Alastor snapped his fingers once more. It was best to not wonder what happened to them, and frankly speaking Mika didn't even give them a second thought as his attention was fixed squarely on the black puffball that was on the ground before him.

Without much hesitation, Alastor picked up the puffball up off the ground with his free hand and held it up to Mika's eye level. The pilot began flexing the claws of his _Lupus Rex _arm as he stared at the thing, fully expecting it to turn into some rabid demonic beast and attack him out of the blue. Sure, it appeared harmless and incapable of movement, but you'll never know when it comes to Alastor.

And suddenly, what appeared to be a single cycloptic, orange coloured eye opened on the black puffball. Said eye's yellow and black iris was locked directly onto Mikazuki, who admittedly winced a little at that unexpected act. Before long, however, the pilot relaxed just a little after Alastor shook the puffball, causing the black soot to disappear off it and revealing that it was a… cycloptic little girl this whole time. Dressed in a white shirt with pink dots, a pink skirt with yellow dots and a poodle doodle and a very dark pink scarf, this little cycloptic loli appeared rather harmless… for the most past

"Mikazuki Augus, allow me to introduce you to this Little Darling; _Niffty_! Niffty, this is Mikazuki Augus!" introduced Alastor as he smiled. Mika simply raised a confused brow as Al' dropped the small cyclops, Niffty, onto the ground, where she landed with a _squee_. The pilot watched as Niffty leapt up to her feet and offered a friendly wave to him, though he paid more attention to the sharp, yellowish teeth she was showing as she offered him a toothy smile rather than the wave itself.

"Hi, I'm Niffty!" greeted the little cyclops as her singular eye locked onto Mikazuki, who raised a confused brow as soon as her iris shrank down until it was nearly unnoticeable. Strangely enough, Niffty seemed beyond ecstatic to meet him, and Mika couldn't seem to figure out why, at least until she continued on speaking anyways. "It's been quite a while since I made a new friend, especially a guy-friend!"

Well, that explained _some_ things… though before Mika could even raise a brow at that strange reason, Niffty had rushed up in front of him, prompting him to instinctively step back and reach for his pistol. Before he could unholster it and take aim, however, Niffty had disappeared from his line of sight within the blink of an eye, prompting the pilot to raise an eyebrow as he looked from side to side, much to Alastor's amusement as he held back a chuckle. A few seconds later, however, Mika felt something climb onto his back, prompting him to turn and see that Niffty somehow managed to climb onto his back without him noticing!

"Oh my gosh, you have a weapon! Well, granted, a lot of people have weapons in Hell, but still, your weapon looks strange! It's so small but still looks very powerful!" proclaimed Niffty from over Mika's shoulder as the pilot attempted to get her off his back, though right as his _Lupus Rex _arm got even an inch away from her face, Niffty disappeared behind him… only to reappear on his regular arm, clinging onto his sleeved arm as she continued babbling on. "And you're so muscular too! What exactly did you do to get this ripped when you were alive?! You were probably a lady's man when you were still alive! Or a guy's man! Oh! I'm sorry if that offends you or anything, but if it does then no offence!"

"..." Mika was at a loss for words, and the look of confusion that was on his face was more than enough to make Alastor chuckle..

"Oh my, what's up with your other arm?! And your legs too! They look like something out of a sci-fi movie!" inquired Niffty as she zipped over to grab onto Mika's _Lupus Rex _arm, clinging onto its cold white upper armour. In response, Mika grimaced just a little as he attempted to shake her off to no avail. If anything, the only thing it managed to do was slur up her words. "It feeeeeeeels sooooooo coooooooooooold!"

"Tsk…" groaned Mika, his irritation becoming more apparent as Niffty refused to get off him. Alastor, on the other hand, found himself chuckling much more as he watched the whole ordeal unfold before him. Ah… Mika truly was the most entertaining sonova bitch he could've come across in Hell, even if the most entertaining things he usually did were all unintentionally done. Of course, as entertaining as watching Mika try and pry Niffty off his person was, Alastor reckoned that he should get to the main reason as to why he summoned her in the first place before Mika could put a bullet through her skull.

"Niffty, if you may, please do try and act more mature," suggested Alastor, prompting Niffty to frown as she reluctantly released Mikazuki's _Lupus Rex _arm and fell to the ground with yet another _squee_. Mika withheld a sigh of relief as Niffty stood back up. "Though of course, I do understand your excitement to a certain degree. To meet a new friend is always a good time to be had!"

No reply from Mika whilst Niffty simply nodded in agreement.

"However, I did not bring you here just to make a new friend!" continued Al' as Niffty tilted her head off to the side just a little in confusion. Similarly, Mika raised an eyebrow in confusion as well, prompting Alastor to laugh as he continued. "I shall keep this brief! I wish for you to… _assist _Mikazuki Augus in maintaining proper hygiene."

"Wait you mean he doesn't maintain proper hygiene himself or something?" inquired Niffty, and she widened her eyes immensely when Alastor shook his head rapidly. At that, Niffty raised a brow as she turned towards Augus and sniffed him seriously… and she promptly leapt back and assumed a more offensive stance which appeared rather comical, one that Mika raised a brow at. "OMIGOSH! MISTER MIKAZUKI, YOU FUCKING STINK!"

Well… that was one way to put it, and it was enough to make Mika raise one of his arms and sniff his underarm. The pilot didn't seem to notice anything wrong, so he just shrugged. As for Niffty, however, she attempted to look upset, which didn't really work as she was too adorable to look really threatening, as she pointed at him accusingly.

"I don't smell anything wrong," assured Mika as Niffty's frown deepened.

"Your nose must be broken, Mister Mikazuki!" proclaimed a horrified Niffty as she turned to face Alastor with an _extremely _serious expression. "Alastor, if you'll allow me-"

"Go right on ahead and do whatever you think is best for our little hitman, Niffty!" urged Alastor, and at that, Niffty broke out into a toothy smile as she turned back to Augus with a rather… off putting glare that set him on edge. "Just make sure he smells more… presentable thereafter."

"Right away!" was all Mika heard her yell out before she practically dragged him into the bathroom. Meanwhile, Alastor sighed in relief before he twirled his microphone cane in his hand, happy that Mikazuki's hygiene issues will hopefully be resolved within the day. Niffty could do it, he was certain that she could, and with that assurance in mind, he chuckled lightly to himself as he twirled his microphone cane in his hand.

'_Well, now that that's settled, I wonder how Mimzy is doing…'_

* * *

**Meanwhile **

"OH MY GOSH YOUR CLOTHING STINKS! AND WHY ARE THERE SO MANY TEARS?! MR MIKAZUKI, I'LL BRING YOUR CLOTHES TO THE CLOSEST CLEANER RIGHT AWAY AND HAVE THEM FIXED! IN THE MEANTIME, TAKE A SHOWER!"

And at that, Niffty promptly left the bathroom, leaving Mikazuki alone in there, completely butt naked as he sighed.

He didn't know how, but Niffty, despite being half his size and probably with a quarter of his muscle mass, was _somehow _able to strip him completely butt naked within a moment's notice. Hell, Niffty somehow managed to even pry the armour plating off his _Lupus Rex _limbs, which left him with their inner frames and nothing more! Even he didn't know that they could come off until Niffty did that!

The only thing she didn't manage to get off him was the bracelet that he had on his regular wrist, and even then it was probably because he kept a close eye on it, having refused to even let it come off his wrist ever since the day he received it from I.M.P. Aside from that, however, he was completely naked… and it was enough to make him sigh.

"Good grief," groaned Mika as he stared at the bathroom, a simple looking place that held not much more than a (leaking and slightly cracked) sink and a (cracked) bathtub. If he were honest, it was probably worse than the bathrooms of the _Isaribi_. At least it had sinks that didn't look shattered beyond repair.

Staring down at his naked self, Mika sighed as he rubbed the inner frame of his _Lupus Rex _arm. The sensation of his fingers gliding over the inner frame was more apparent now that its upper armour was gone, much to his amusement. Before long, however, Mika eventually sighed and decided that perhaps having a shower would be a nice way to pass the time. Not like he had anything else to do, after all, and leaving the room butt naked to find Niffty and get his attire back was probably a dumb move. This may have been Hell, but even he had standards.

Rather shockingly, the bathtub was capable of running warm water, and Mika was quick to fill it up halfway before taking a seat inside it. As soon as his exposed rear made contact with the tub, the water was quick to turn a somewhat light shade of red, prompting Augus to snort in amusement.

'_...guess I did need to take a shower,' _thought the pilot rather offhandedly as he rubbed the back of his neck with his regular hand, sighing as he leaned against the edge of the tub.

He was quick to notice some shampoo close by and decided to use it… and he didn't know how, but he somehow managed to fill the entire bathroom in bubbles by complete accident.

If he were honest… it was fun. Perhaps he should take showers more often if it were this entertaining.

* * *

**Several hours later**

"Mister Mikazuki, your clothes are in acceptable condition now!"

As soon as he heard that, Mika raised a brow and turned his attention towards the door to their hotel room. The pilot had exited the bathroom after about three hours of sitting in the tub and messing around with bubbles, something that was admittedly rather childish of him, though it wasn't as though anyone would tell him that.

Unless they were Alastor, anyways.

After leaving the bathroom, Mika spent the next hour or so sitting on the bed with a towel around his waist. There wasn't exactly much to do, so he just sat there and waited patiently for Niffty to return… with the only thing on his mind being the fate of Tekkadan. He did hope that Atra survived the aftermath of all that nonsense that happened on Mars… her and whatever remained of Tekkadan. _Azee _did promise them that they would pick the survivors up, but you couldn't be too sure…

The pilot's thoughts were rather obviously cut short when Niffty had yelled out from behind the door to the hotel room, and before even a second passed, said door was kicked open by the tiny by comparison Niffty, who in turn held Mikazuki's clothing, all cleaned up and with the tears that were once on them stitched back together, in her hands. Atop the clothes were the armour plates of Mika's _Lupus Rex _limbs, which were all scraped clean of any grime that used to be on them, though the absence of the dirt made the many dents, dings and scratches on the plating more noticeable.

Still… he had to applaud Niffty's efforts. People who were as committed to doing a specific thing as her were hard to come by…

"Oh jeez your clothes were so hard to clean! Shockingly, though, your armour thingies were very easy to work with! Let me tell you, though, I needed to shove aside so many people just to get a proper scrubber to wash your clothes!" fired off Niffty as she rushed in front of Mika and placed his attire and armour plates on his lap. She didn't seem phased by how Mika was completely naked, save for the towel he had, as she began complaining about washing machines being inferior to hand washing techniques. Mika himself didn't seem to care about it all as he stood up and began putting his clothes on, with Niffty not even batting an eye as he dropped the towel.

...admittedly, his clothes did feel much better to wear, and they smelled better too, which was something. Without the blood stains or patches of dirt on them and with the various rips and tears sewed back up, his attire almost seemed presentable, though he wouldn't go that far with complementing Niffty.

"Seriously, the machine just goes vrrrrrrrr and spins the clothing around! How does _that _clean it?!" demanded Niffty as Mika put his pants on, raising a brow when he noticed how soft they now felt. Not bad, he supposed. "It's like saying that Lucifer is completely out of Alastor's league just because he defeated him that one time! It's absolutely preposterous!"

No response from Augus, who managed to put his blue undershirt on in spite of his _Lupus Rex _arm being a pain to slip through the sleeve, though the pilot did at least acknowledge that Lucifer and Alastor fought on one occasion. It wasn't much of a surprise to learn that Al' lost, however, as Mika could quite easily presume that in Hell, no one could be on par with Lucifer.

Well, except for maybe Lilith… or the Von Eldritch family, though the latter was up for debate.

"Hey Mikazuki, I know this is a weird sidetrack but what exactly do you think about Alastor? I mean, he can be a jerk sometimes but still he's pretty nice, isn't he?" inquired Niffty, not even pausing for a moment as she spoke. "I mean he doesn't really pay me since I kinda sold my soul or something to become one of his 'business partners', but he does bring me to interesting places! Of course we usually stay in _Pentagram City _but from time to time we go to other regions. Oh, have you been to _Styx Row_?! _Husk_ got kicked out of there three times but was eventually let back in because he was the only reason why most of the patrons returned and-"

"He's irritating."

At that, Niffty stopped her speaking and looked at Mika in bewilderment. Vice versa, Mika simply sat back on the bed, ignoring Niffty's bewilderment as he attempted to reattach the armour plating of his _Lupus Rex _arm.

"Mind if I ask why? I mean, so far he's been pretty nice to me so I don't know what you mean," requested Niffty, much to Mika's irritation as he managed to reattach one of the three armour plates onto his _Lupus Rex _arm. "Like, I know he likes to poke fun at Husk a lot, and no doubt poke fun at you too, and he sometimes talks a lot and can be annoying but-"

"That's why," cut off Mika as he smacked his regular hand against the second armour plate for his _Lupus Rex_ arm, forcing it back into place and causing Augus to grunt mildly in acknowledgment. "He talks too much and is annoying."

"But you have to agree that it's part of his charm, right?" reasoned Niffty as she splayed her hands out beside her face.

"The only charm that's worth remembering is whatever he uses to get me those raisins," countered Mika as he picked up the third armor plate for his _Lupus Rex _arm.

"But still you can't deny that he has a lot of charisma!" shot Niffty as she climbed up and sat next to Mika, who managed to slam the final armour plate of his _Lupus Rex _arm back into place. Turning to stare at the armour for his _Lupus Rex _legs, Mika opted to just leave them off for the day before he snorted and turned towards the cycloptic little girl. Admittedly, yes, Alastor did have quite a lot of charisma… though it was the type of charisma that Mika loathed. Even so, he didn't wish to admit that to Niffty for reasons that were still not known to him, so he just stayed silent.

For a brief moment after not getting a response, Niffty remained rather silent as Augus flexed the fingers of his _Lupus Rex _arm. The soap didn't seem to be messing with the internal mechanics of his arm, which was always a good thing. If anything, the soap seemed to make his arm easier to move, so much so that the pilot reckoned that he'd have to shower more often for maximum _Lupus Rex _joint efficiency.

Right as he turned away from his hand, however, Mika felt a strange sensation on his upper spine, prompting him to raise an eyebrow and turn his head backwards, only to raise his brows further when he spotted Niffty standing behind him on the bed. Her attention was firmly locked onto his upper back, with one of her hands resting against her chin thoughtfully while the other was resting against his back, or much rather, the three Alaya Vijnana spines that stuck out from his upper back. Mika would've thought her to look cute if he wasn't irritated at her sudden interest in his spines.

"...what are you doing?" inquired Mika, who didn't seem to have the heart to just tell her to piss off. Normally, he didn't exactly mind people touching his spines. However, the sensation of having them touched now was rather… foreign to him now. Ever since he came down to the bowels of Hell, Mika never had any real use for the Alaya Vijnana system. Nothing in Hell made use of the system, and he wasn't exactly able to use them as weapons… so he gradually forgot about them until Niffty inadvertently reminded him of their existence.

"What are these thingies? They look like spinal growths! Did some sorta fungi grow on your back? What kinda alien attached itself to you so intensely that it came to Hell with you?!" inquired Niffty rather curiously, much to Mika's amusement as he reached back with his regular hand and ran his fingers over his Alaya Vijnana spines, shivering a little as his fingers made contact with them. "Does it hurt when I touch them? Or is it your erogenous zone? If it's the latter then does that mean I'm giving you a triple han-"

"It's something I had when I was alive. Not a… fungi growth, an alien, or my… erojeenus zone…" replied Mika, inadvertently cutting Niffty off as he turned to stare at him, ignoring how he completely mispronounced the word erogenous as she tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"So… a spinal defect growth thing?" asked Niffty, her tone showing some form of worry as Mika raised a brow. That tone was vaguely familiar to him… though he didn't have time to put his finger on why he felt that way as he replied.

"Alaya Vijnana system," corrected Mika, prompting Niffty to tilt her head, clearly interested in what this _Ara Yuski_, as she mispronounced it as, was. In response, Mika sighed and decided to try and explain it to her to pass the time… though he quickly remembered that he wasn't exactly familiar with the specifics behind the AV system either, prompting him to just babble on about what little he could actually remember. "It… it's… something that other people put into my spine when I was younger."

"Well what does it do, exactly?" asked Niffty as she climbed onto Mika's back and stared at him from over his shoulder. In response, Mika used his _Lupus Rex _arm to pluck her off his back and lifted her up to eye level, raising a confused brow when Niffty waved at him, not at all worried that Mika's _Lupus Rex _hand could very easily crush her skull by just clenching itself up.

"It let me control machines with Alaya Vijnana ports better," answered Mika as he dropped Niffty onto the ground, causing her to give another _squee _on impact. The _squee_ thing seemed to be normal for the cycloptic loli, Mika reckoned as he watched Niffty stand up and brush what little dust she gathered off her skirt.

"Why do you need it, anyways?" asked Niffty, her tone sounding just a little more worried than before… and it reminded Mika of a certain someone, prompting his frown to deepen just a little as Niffy continued speaking. "I mean, machines can be controlled normally, right? Why do you need to control them more effectively? And for that matter why are you controlling machines for? Are you driving? You seem a little too young to drive!"

"_Barbatos _needs the Alaya Vijnana system to move as fast as he does," replied Mika simply as Niffty tilted her head to the side, seeming more confused thanks to Barbatos' name being thrown into the mix.

"_Barbatos_? Did the Duke find his way to the mortal world somehow? Wasn't Barbatos a normal Hellborn devil? If so, how-" began Niffty, only to be silenced when Mika grabbed the lower half of her face with his _Lupus Rex _arm, in turn covering her mouth and muffling the rest of her words. "MmMMmmmmmMM!"

"He's not that Barbatos. _Barbatos _is my Mobile Suit, my Gundam," corrected Mika, some small hints of amusement being rather apparent in his tone as he released Niffty's lower face, revealing the rest of her confused expression as more questions began popping up in her. Without even wasting a second, the cycloptic loli scrambled up to sit next to Mika before she began asking more and more questions.

"Mobile Suit? Gundam? Why would anyone call a suit mobile? A suit isn't mobile until someone wears it, like Alastor's suit! And why would a dam have a gun? A dam doesn't even have hands to hold it! Or vice versa, why would-" began Niffty once more, only for Mika to slap his regular hand over her mouth once more to shut her up.

"You're thinking too hard into it," muttered Mika as he sighed. Niffty's worry did remind him of _her_, but her talkative nature was a far cry from either of the two girls whom he loved whilst alive. "...a Mobile Suit is a giant robot."

"Ooooh… OH! I think I get it now! And a Gundam is a Mobile Suit… of armour!" concluded Niffty, smacking the bottom of her fist into her opened palm as she spoke.

"...yeah, just go with that," confirmed Mika with a nod as Niffty fistpumped victoriously.

"So… why did you have to use these Mobile Suits?" inquired Niffty after her mild celebration of being correct. Rather abruptly, her tone went from somewhat carefree to rather that worried tone once more, and her smile was quick to fade, a change so abrupt that Mika thought that he was seeing things for a moment. He was quick to realize he wasn't, however, and by then, Nifty had already continued speaking. "You don't seem very old! How old are you?! Do you have a robot licence?! I'm not sure if that exists but if it does you look too young to have one!"

"... I think I'm about Eighteen," answered Mika, who was also admittedly rather confused about his own age. Come to think of it… when was he even born? Augus found himself thinking about that little detail for quite some time, and he probably got lost in thought as, within a handful of seconds, Niffty shook his regular arm, snapping him out of his thoughts and prompting him to turn towards her. "Hm?"

"You _think _you're eighteen?" echoed Niffty, her worried tone now sounding rather… strange as she wrapped her hand around Mika's regular wrist, prompting him to raise a brow. For a Sinner, a person who presumably came to Hell after doing terrible things… Niffty really didn't act like one. If anything… the way she acted was more reminiscent of…

"Mikazuki… do you not know how old you really are?"

"... no. I don't," admitted Mika as he was ripped out of his thoughts. Niffty seemed to slouch her shoulders just a little at that, though she noticeably perked up when Augus continued, just not in a good way. "Not that it matters, anyways."

"Why would you say that? What happened to your parents?!" inquired/demanded Niffty, seeming to become more and more erratic as time went on, with her grip tightening around Mika's wrist all the while. Not enough to hurt, though enough for Mika to notice. "Did they… leave you?"

"Maybe," quipt Mika nonchalantly as he stared at his own reflection on the polished outer armour of his _Lupus Rex _arm, frowning as his reflection stared back at him. "It doesn't really matter to me anymore. They're long gone, and they're no longer my family. Tekkadan is."

"Tekkadan?" muttered Niffty as she tilted her head a little to the side, loosening her grip on his wrist in the process. "Is… that Japanese?"

"You speak Japanese?" inquired Mika, actually genuinely surprised for once as Niffty nodded proudly.

"Indeed! Tekkadan… Tekkadan, Tekkadan… is that Japanese for Unwilting Flower?" muttered Niffty. Mika simply nodded. She wasn't completely correct, though she wasn't too off the mark either, so he decided to let her have this victory. "Ah! But… may I know you consider an Unwilting Flower to be your family, Mister Mikazuki? I mean, you don't exactly share blood with a plant, now do you? Oh, are you a plant man?!"

"It's the name of the group I work for," muttered Mika wistfully as he allowed himself to smile just a little, only to close his eyes as he corrected himself. "Work _with_…"

"A group composed of other people?" inquired Niffty thoughtfully. After Mika nodded, Niffty bit her lip and continued. "But… there's no real blood relation, Mister Mikazuki…"

"... there's more to family than blood relation, Niffty," replied Mika as he held his _Lupus Rex _arm up in the air. The pilot flexed the golden claws of his mechanical hand rather absentmindedly before clenching it tightly, causing several scraping noises to be heard. Niffty didn't pay attention to that, however, as she listened to what Augus had to say. "Family is defined by those who truly care for you, the people who have your best interests in heart. We Tekkadan members aren't bound to one another by blood, but by the respect we hold towards one another… and how we were willing to give our lives just to make sure our comrades lived to see another day."

"... I see," muttered Niffty as she cupped her hands together, a rather wistful smile on her face as she nodded rather solemnly. At that, Mika raised a confused brow, unsure of how to make of her sudden change in attitude as the cycloptic loli sighed gently. "It must have been… nice, yes? To have people who love you even though you have no blood relation."

"...yes. It was… is nice," admitted Mika, offering a shadow of a smile as he remembered some of the better days of his career that were outside _Barbatos' _cockpit. After some time, Augus turned towards Niffty, and he was quick to raise a brow when he saw her smile twitched just a little as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her skirt, seemingly lost in thought, prompting him to nudge her just a little with the side of his regular arm. "Oi, is something on your mind?"

"Oh! Uh, no! Not really! Just… y'know, it'd be nice to have a family like yours! Actually, wait… uh… no, wait, no erm… uh! N-NEVERMIND!" proclaimed Niffty rather awkwardly as she waved her arms around, unsure of how to answer Mika's question as she began panicking just a little. In response, however, Mika simply snorted as he gestured for her to calm the fuck down with his regular hand. And, in a strange twist of events, Augus offered a smile, clearly amused at Niffty's antics. In turn, Niffty herself gaped just a little at that smile. It appeared so innocent… and so unfitting of a hitman like him.

"You don't need to continue," assured Mika as Niffty tilted her head at his tone. His tone… it was a lot different than she recalled it being mere moments prior, and it confused her just a little, though she didn't bring it up as she simply nodded.

"Ah… well, I… erm… uh… thanks, I guess?" muttered Niffty, prompting Mika to snort in response.

"Hm," muttered Mika rather absentmindedly as he offered a more noticeable smile of his own. "I should thank you for washing my stuff too, Niffty."

"Oh, you're welcome!"

And at that, Niffty seemed to return to her usual self as she clenched her fists close to her chest in some form of pride, and at that, Augus snorted in amusement as he absentmindedly patted her over the head, much to her confusion.

"Erm… Mister Mikazuki…?" muttered Niffty, sounding somewhere between confused and flustered as her cheeks took on a mild red shade. In response, Mika closed one of his eyes and glanced at the cycloptic loli, removing his hand as he did.

"... sorry. You remind me of someone I know when I was still alive," apologised Mika as he pulled his hand back, though before he could, Niffy seized his hand and forced him to keep patting her. "Hm?"

"I didn't say stop dammit!" proclaimed Niffty as she gave a mild pout. "Headpats are the highest form of thanks, so in order to thank me, keep patting me!"

In response to that, Mika simply snorted in amusement as he nodded.

Hell may have been a terrible shitshow… but Niffty showed that it wasn't all bad, and for perhaps the first time since he came to Hell, Mika allowed himself to give a genuine smile as he kept patting Niffty over the head.

'_... cute.' _

* * *

**KAR EN TUK**

**RIP AND TEAR**

**Aphem… sorry about that. I was just too into the moment. DOOM ETERNAL is great. **

**Hopefully you lads enjoyed this chapter. It was… much more different than I had envisioned it to be, but I had fun writing it nonetheless. Writing a hopeless romantic was… interesting, to say the least, and my proofreader thought it was a cute chapter so it was all worth it. **

**Not much else to really say… so onto the reviews!**

* * *

**Neo Magdiel Gonzalez Ramirez: erm, your welcome and here's the next one!**

**King of 2211: Helsa needs more love dammit, so I thought I'd offer some**

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**That's basically it… so see you guys next time. **

**Would be neat if I got more reviews… hey what's this? Oh, an omake!**

* * *

"Hm…"

"What is it, Alastor?"

At that, Alastor raised an eyebrow as he sipped what Mika hoped to be coffee and read a book from across the hotel room, his gaze locked on him as he sat on the bed. Niffty had fell asleep not long ago… with her head on his lap, and Mika didn't have the heart to tell her to get the fuck off, so he allowed her to remain there.

By the time Alastor had returned, Mika had draped his Tekkadan jacket over Niffty's smaller by comparison body as a pseudo-blanket, and the Radio Demon appeared intrigued by the sight, though he didn't say anything back then, and likewise, he didn't say anything now as he chuckled.

"Oh, worry not about it, Mikazuki Augus," assured Alastor as he waved his hand and turned back to his book, prompting Mika to roll his eyes just a little. It was better to not ask about their current relationship after all.

Besides, Alastor was more interested in why the bathroom was so damn soapy, and he didn't even ask about that.


	8. Looking for a Husk

This task was certainly… something, to say the least, and Mika couldn't help but grumble silently to himself as he stood in front of the gates that led to the casino that went by _Purgatory's Playplace_.

Having been asked by Alastor himself, of all demons, to carry this task out, Mika was told to come and retrieve a specific demon from this casino. The reason as to why was currently not known to him, though it didn't really matter. This was a job, and he was meant to carry it out, not ask questions.

According to Alastor, the demon he was to retrieve went by _Husk_. Or was it _Husker_? Mika didn't remember what Alastor had called the demon, though it mattered very little. What _did _matter, however, was how the demon looked, especially considering how Mika was meant to find them. And unfortunately, Alastor had described their appearance in one of the worst ways imaginable.

"_Just look out for a tall guy. Fancy tophat, red wings, sharp claws, long ears and probably drunk whilst playing a round of poker!"_ was all Alastor had bothered to tell him before he snapped his fingers and quite literally teleported Mika right in front of the doors of _Purgatory's Playplace_, much to the pilot's chagrin. He remembered Niffty wishing to come with him, though she was stopped by Alastor, who claimed that she would probably distract Mika from his job if she did.

If anything, Mika half wished that she was here. She probably knew more about this demon he was looking for than he did!

Even so… he wouldn't let himself be stopped by such a minor setback. Mikazuki was never too big on improvising, but he could adapt, he supposed. That, and the payment Alastor was offering to provide was… enticing, to say the least. With that in mind, the pilot swung the doors of _Purgatory's Playplace_ open and entered the casino, and he was quickly greeted by the smell of alcohol and the sound of hundreds of demons placing bets on various games they were playing.

He should've seen this coming, Mika reckoned. Though he never bothered to enter one in the past, Mika did hear of the rowdiness of a casino from the few Tekkadan members who bothered to venture in. The sound of a happy man after winning a bet, the cries of a now bankrupt guy after he blew his cash on a rigged game or just the slurred voice of several drunken patrons, all of that seemed to stay the same down here in Hell, and Mika couldn't help but wince at the similarities.

At the very least, not everything in Hell was different from the mortal realm, he supposed.

"Hey, kid, wanna have a go?" inquired a demon with the head of a bull from a poker desk, having spotted Mika enter and apparently seeing him as easy pickings. Turning towards him, Augus simply raised a brow and continued on, not content with replying as the demon snorted. "Suit yourself, then."

"You look like quite the loaded fellow, especially with an arm like that, kid! And those gold claws? You've probably bartered more than once to get em! Why not have another go and try your luck!" goaded another as Mika crossed his table with an active game of Craps. The demon had the head of a snake, something that reminded Mika of that other guy… Sir Pentious, was it? The thing which separated the guy from Sir Pentious, however, was that his hands were also the heads of snakes, and Mika did pause briefly to stare at them as they held/bit onto a dice. After he finished staring, however, Mika went on his way, prompting the serpentine demon to shrug and carry on with his business.

"Hey there kiddo, you wanna have a good time?~"

Yeah, that was an instant no, and Mika was quick to walk away from the Spider demons that were offering to provide him with a 'good time', so to speak. Their attire was truly something to behold, though Augus was not willing to even entertain the idea of accepting their offer. And even if he was… he was already taken, and his heart belonged to only two people whom he'd stay faithful to until he died… a second time.

As soon as he was out of their sights, Mika cautiously peeked over his shoulder to make sure that they weren't following. He sighed just a little in relief when he confirmed that they weren't before turning his attention back to his front, intent on moving on with his assigned task, though before he could, someone spoke up to him from the side.

"You seem new, kid," came the voice, prompting Mika to turn towards it with a raised brow and realise that he was now standing beside the casino's bar. From the other side of the bar stood who Mika assumed to be the bartender, and his appearance made him raise a brow. The suit was definitely normal for someone with his occupation… but the fact that the demon was composed entirely of fire was something that was noteworthy.

The apparent lack of response seemed to amuse the fire demon, who chuckled briefly as he placed a cup down and fixed his gaze squarely on the pilot.

"We hardly get new patrons here, and the few who are new to this establishment always seem to be taken aback by my appearance," continued the bartender as he expertly served a glass of alcohol to a demon that sat close by. His general politeness was interesting to Mika, to say the least, though his thoughts were cut short when the bartender continued speaking. "So, what brings you here, kid? You don't seem to be keen on actually placing any bets or even taking a sip of what I'm stirring up."

"... I'm looking for someone," replied Mika, who reckoned that spilling the beans wouldn't be too much of an issue as he walked up to claim a seat in front of the bartender. In response to that, the fire demon chuckled briefly and mixed two drinks up.

"Aren't we all? You looking to place one between this person's eyes? If so, least do it outside. I'd prefer this fuckpit to remain as calm as it is now," urged the bartender as he stopped mixing the drinks and poured the end result into a cup. The mixed drink didn't exactly seem to be drinkable, though the demon that the bartender gave it to begged to differ as it chugged it down within a moment's notice.

"No, I'm just bringing them to a client," replied Mika, rejecting a drink offer from the bartender with a wave of his _Lupus Rex _arm as he spoke. At that, the bartender laughed just a little and somehow managed to drink what he had wished to offer Mika despite not having a mouth. The fact that he was made out of fire and _drinking _was also something that was… interesting to say the least, though Mika didn't think too much on that.

"Ah, so you're just the middleman for the murder process. I hear ya," replied the bartender as he pointed the empty glass at Mika, who raised a brow at that. He never heard that term before, and it was enough to amuse him as the bartender chuckled. "So, tell me, who're you tryna kidnap? Considering how you're a potentially new patron, I may as well give you some help for free."

It took a moment for Mika to respond as he simply eyed the fire demon, watching as he cleaned a cup with a rag that was somehow not catching fire in his hand. He seemed fine by demon standards, and divulging the name of the demon he was looking for probably wouldn't be too much of an issue. So, with a shrug, Mika nodded and gave his answer.

"Husk. Or Husker," replied Mika, still unsure on how the guy's name was to be pronounced. As soon as both names left his lips, however, the bartender noticeably stiffened as he processed that information, and he was quick to place the cup he was wiping down and replying.

"Kid, I'll have you know that Husk works closely with Alastor, the Radio Demon, who's a primary sponsor of _Purgatory's Playplace_" warned the bartender rather cryptically as Augus raised a brow. "What business do you have with one of my top patrons' servant?"

"I work for Alastor," was Mika's immediate answer, one that seemed to briefly surprise the bartender, though he was quick to add on. "For now."

"Huh, thus far the Radio Demon only has two named official Servants, Husk and Niffty," commented the bartender as he picked up a glass of champagne and melted the cap off it. "There have been rumors of some kid being by his side. I'm to presume you're that kid?"

"... I think?" answered Mika with a shrug. His response was a light chuckle from the flame demon as he poured some champagne into a glass.

"Well, even if I don't believe you're one of his newer servants, I still can't bring myself to deny a new potential patron some help," admitted the bartender as he held the glass up towards Mika. "Husk is sitting on the table at the center of the room. Most crowded area. You won't miss it."

Turning on the chair, Mika scanned the room briefly to perhaps catch a glimpse of this table which the bartender was speaking of. And, sure enough, he was quick to lock his gaze on a somewhat overcrowded table that was almost as rowdy as Tekkadan after a night at the bar.

"Yep, that's definitely the one," assured the bartender as he handed the glass of champagne off to some random demon sitting close to Augus. "Whatever you wanna do to Husk, all I can say is good luck. If you wanna kill him, you'll need it. And if you wanna make him leave the casino, I'd usually say just call it quits, but you seem like you've got some fight in ya, so like with the first point, good luck nonetheless."

And to that, Mika could only nod as he got off his chair.

"Thanks."

* * *

Husk was truly a demon of many traits.

While yes, murder, interrogation and occasional espionage were things that he fancied, his talents were properly put upfront when it came to a good gamble. It was like that in life, and it seemed as though it would remain that way even after death.

This fact was made all the more apparent as he sat rather lazily on one end of a somewhat crowded poker table, his gaze locked onto a bat demon that sat on the other end. Unlike him, the bat demon appeared panicked, to say the least, and Husk found himself smirking in self satisfaction at his opponent's panic. Evidently, he ended up revealing some of his razor sharp, yellowed teeth as well, as the bat demon whimpered a little and attempted to avoid eye contact with him by hiding behind the cards he had in his hands.

"So, whaddya say, kid? Do ya fold? Or do you still wanna keep checkin' and delay the inevitable?" taunted Husk rather smugly as he leaned back on his chair, one hand scraping the poker table with its sharp fingers while the other held onto the cards that he still had in his hand. His response was a pained expression from his opponent, who glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

"SILENCE, HUSK!" demanded the bat demon, who seemed to be doing his best to maintain his Dracula-esc accent despite the stress he was currently going through. Commendable… though Husk felt more like ridiculing this guy rather than commend him. "I SHALL MAINTAIN MY CHECK!"

"Really now?" inquired Husk, leaning forward and tipping his tophat just a little as he smirked smugly. "You chickenin' out or somethin'? What, didja forget to drink some blood or something? I reckon that ya did, considering how fuckin' pale you look!"

"I SAID BE QUIET, HUSK!" proclaimed the bat demon as he pointed a finger at the cat demon, who barely flinched as he unfurled his red wings before folding them back up. "YOU SHALL RUE THIS NIGHT, MARK MY WORDS!"

"I would mark 'em if they mattered, kid," retorted Husk nonchalantly, earning himself a few snickers from the small crowd that had gathered around them as he waved a hand dismissively. The bat demon was most certainly boiling with rage at that point, though before he could let it all loose, Husk spoke up. "Anyways hurry the fuck up, will ya? I don't got all day!"

"FINE THEN!" was his response from the bat demon, who, rather dramatically, raised the cards he had in his hand and slammed it down onto the table, shaking it just a little on impact. "FULL HOUSE!"

And, for a brief moment, a spark of hope was ignited within the bat demon as Husk's expression momentarily faltered. It was enough to give him some self satisfaction as he tugged on his collar, having thought that he managed to luck his way out of this… though before long, that thought was ejected from his mind when Husk began smiling once more. Unlike his previous smile, however, this one seemed to be almost… predatorial in nature, and the bat demon began sweating intensely as Husk shook his head mockingly.

"Fair play, kid. You managed to get some good cards, good enough to be called a pro, if I'm being very generous. But lemme tell you something to set the record straight," spoke up the cat demon, as he nonchalantly revealed the cards he had in his hand. The crowd around them gasped at the sheer power of the cards he had in his hand, all except for a certain someone who didn't even know how poker worked, and Husk himself took a moment to relish the shock as he leaned back on his chair.

"You may be a 'pro', but round' these parks, and especially on this table, I'm the fuckin king! You hear?"

He didn't even get a response from the bat demon, who had lost all colour in his face by then. Husk was quick to laugh at that as he eyed the demon before him, rolling his eyes as he gathered up his cards. A Straight Flush, he had gotten, and it beat the bat demon's hand by a full fifty points.

"So anyways," continued Husk as he swiped up the cards and got his chips. "You know the rules, so I'd like my fuckin' money now."

"Y-YOU… YOU CHEATED! I KNOW YOU DID!" was his immediate response from the bat demon, who began seething with rage. Husk replied with a roll of his eyes as he watched the crowd around them disperse, having been satisfied with the 'action', leaving a handful behind to watch the conclusion to the poker battle. "TELL ME, WHAT DID YOU DO?!

"Nothing, kid. I'm just better, and you challenged me, remember?" reminded Husk as he held a hand out. "Now pay up, or do ya want another go at the cards?"

A mild growl could be heard from the bat demon, though rather thankfully, he conceded and handed Husk his winnings. A massive wad of cash, to be specific, one that was thick enough to probably kill a man just by hitting him over the head. As soon as he took it, Husk laughed and had the bat demon get the fuck on with his day, to which he did, leaving the cat demon to count his earnings.

'_Ah… feels great to be me sometimes,' _thought Husk as he went through his winnings, smiling to himself as he closed his eyes briefly to savor the moment.

And of course, that moment was lost when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Sighing at that, Husk turned to face them, speaking up before he opened his eyes.

"Oi kid, if you want a rematch, come again some other time. Cos right now, I-" began Husk, only to open his eyes and realize that the guy he was talking to was not who he had expected. Husk gave the kid a quick one over and was quick to realize that he looked rather off for a denizen of Hell. So human-like in appearance that it made the cat demon feel almost envious, though he was quick to shake it off as he lowered his brows. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Alastor wanted me to-" began the kid, and Husk's mood was almost immediately soured as soon as that fucker's name left the guy's lips, so much so that he held a finger up to shut the kid down. Thankfully, the boy did stop speaking as he raised a brow, allowing Husk to continue.

"Alright, kid, listen here. I don't know who the fuck you are or how the fuck you even got to know that Radio Fucktard. But lemme get this straight with you; I AIN'T TAKIN ORDERS FROM THAT FUCKTARD, YA HEAR? NOW BEAT IT!"

Husk was sure that he had made that point very clear. He despised Alastor with pretty much all that remained of his heart for varying reasons. The mere thought of having to return to Alastor in any way was enough to make him grumble, and the thought of him being _dragged _back to that Radio Prick by this kid was probably even worse!

And, as his luck would have it, the kid wasn't leaving just yet.

"It's a job, so I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," urged the kid, and Husk was quick to feel something cold resting against his shoulder. Raising a brow, he turned towards his shoulder and raised his massive brows when he saw a mechanical hand with golden claws resting atop it.

"What the fuck is this?" demanded Husk as he turned to stare at the boy, this time eyeing him more seriously, only to quirk his brows up when he finally noticed the massive robotic arm and lower legs the boy had. Something out of a sci fi flick, Husk thought. "The fuck happened to you, kid?"

"... none of your business," replied the boy as he raised a brow. "But I-"

"Yeah yeah, you needa bring my ass back to Alastor and all that crap," replied Husk as he waved a hand nonchalantly. Despite his tone, however, he couldn't help but feel rather intrigued at Mika's mechanical limbs. To his knowledge, a sinner's appearance was typically a close reflection of their cause of death, and this kid's limbs seemed to be a reflection of his, something that made Husk stare at the kid thoughtfully for a brief moment.

The kid didn't seem to mind the staring, however, as he just stared right back, and before long, Husk sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"Know what, you caught me in a pretty good mood, kid," quipt Husk as he offered a challenging smirk. "On any other day, I'd rip your insides out, stew 'em and make you eat it. But seeing as how I won quite a big sum today, I'm willing to give you a compromise.

"Now, you can either walk right the fuck out of here and leave me the fuck alone, or you can face me, mano a catto, in a game of poker. If you lose, you get the fuck on your way and tell Alastor where to stick his cane. But, if by some cosmic miracle I manage to lose, I'll come with you and tell that Radio fuck to double your payment. How's that sound?"

He wouldn't do it. Husk was sure of that fact. As one of the most infamous poker players in _Pentagram City_, he had built up quite a record for being close to unbeatable, and with that record came notoriety. There was no way this kid didn't know about how 'Godly', for the lack of a better term, he was at this game, and there was even less of a chance for him to dare challenge him.

Then again, he did underestimate how far the kid would go to finish a job… and to get some raisins, as Husk was rightfully shocked when the guy nodded and took a seat on the opposite end of the table.

"I accept your challenge," was the kid's answer, his tone practically unreadable as Husk stared at him in bewilderment. His bewilderment quickly turned into a challenging expression, however, as he smirked and nodded.

"You've got balls, kid, I'll give ya that much," quipt Husk as he motioned for an amphibious looking demon in a suit to come to their table. After accepting some cash, the demon agreed to help pass out cards for the match. "You got a name, kiddo?"

"Mikazuki Augus," was his answer, and Husk snorted and handed him some chips.

'_He's Japanese. Figures.'_

* * *

The game of poker began rather… interestingly, and Husk had to do his best to hold his laughter back, much to Mika's confusion.

"Kid, you're holding the cards the wrong way," explained Husk, prompting Mika to realize that he was indeed holding them the wrong way. Their card dealer snickered at that, and Husk rolled his eyes. "You a newbie or sommet?"

"Ah. First game," confirmed Mika as he realigned his cards, prompting Husk to raise a brow. A complete newbie wished to challenge him? Well, Mika had guts, he supposed, though they weren't the good kind. Then again, Mika could've been lying… which he wasn't, though Husk didn't know that at the moment.

"Well, tough luck, kid," quipt Husk as Mika wondered what the symbols on the cards meant exactly. Currently, he had a pair of Clubs, a Diamond, a spade and a King in his hands, though he didn't even know what to do with them! Husk was quick to catch on, however, as he cleared his throat. "Erm… you gonna Check or something?"

"... Check…?" muttered Mika in confusion as their card dealer nodded. At that, Husk snorted, having decided that he was really going up against a beginner as he discarded one of his cards. At that, the dealer offered him a new one.

"Hm… hey kid, it's your turn," piped up Husk after adding his new card to his deck, smirking when he acknowledged the cards he had been given. Not even a turn in and he already had a High Card in his hand. His smirk was quick to fade, however, when he realized how Mika appeared confused once more. "Uh…"

With his _Lupus Rex _arm, Mika discarded a card and was offered a new one. With a raised brow, Mika stared at the new card in confusion before adding it to his hand, something that made Husk chuckle in amusement.

"Jeez, you're even worse than a newbie, kid!" taunted Husk, who raised his brow when he got no response. "The quiet type, huh? Figures."

"Hm," muttered Mika in response as Husk discarded yet another card and replaced it with a new one. When it was his turn, Mika did the same, and he took a moment to stare at the card he was given in apparent confusion, causing Husk to snort in amusement once more.

This went on for quite some time, and by all means, this was the tamest poker match Husk has ever played in a _very _long time. Everyone else he's fought against was typically spitting insults or doing their best to distract him, usually to no avail. Mika, however, he just remained serious as he stared at his cards in abstract confusion. This was enough to intrigue Husk, though not as much as it _bored _him, of course.

So, after some pondering, and after the seventeenth turn, Husk cleared his throat and struck up a conversation.

"So, kid, how'd you get mixed up with the Radio fucker?" inquired Husk as he leaned back on his chair and examined his clawed fingers. Mika replied with a raise of his brow as he stared at Husk from behind his cards, his gaze being enough to tell the cat demon to rephrase himself. "You don't get mixed up with Alastor by accident, kid. So how'd you meet that fuck, anyways?"

"I didn't. We just bumped into each other," replied Mika flatly as he examined a Ace of Kings card he just got. The pilot pursed his lips a little when he imagined Orga's face in place of the King's, holding back a smile as he held onto it. Meanwhile, Husk rolled his eyes.

"There's gotta be more than that, kid. So come on, spill. Not like it'll really matter in the long run," urged Husk as he discarded a card and replaced it with another. A Joker, not bad, Husk reckoned as he smirked and added it to his hand, only to turn up and spot Mika staring at him with a raised brow. "Look, kid, this match is fuckin' boring. So just answer the damn question, alright? If I die a second death from boredom then you won't be paid, y'know!"

"Hm," muttered Mika as he offered a nod. "Alastor tailed me for a few weeks when I was still working with Barbatos. He-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Barbatos?" piped up Husk, cutting Mika off with his words as the pilot raised a brow. Meanwhile, Husk continued on with his question, momentarily stunned by the fact that a Sinner, of all people, had worked for a Goetial Demon at one point. "As in _the _Duke Barbatos? You work for that prick?"

"Ah. Still working for him, but at a distance," confirmed Mika with a nod as he removed one of his cards from his hand. His replacement was a five of diamonds, and for whatever reason he couldn't stop himself from seeing the five diamonds as Kudelia's face, somthing that made him crack a small smile as he added it to his hand. "He calls over the phone to tell me to do things."

"Alright then. What about Al'? How in the everloving fuck did you get his attention?" inquired Husk, pointing a finger at Augus, who didn't even look at him as he answered.

"He found me one day after I finished a task. Stalked me for the next few weeks before telling Barbatos he wanted to hire me," answered Mika, short and simple as he tossed an unwanted card to the side and received a new one, this time being a Queen of Hearts. Like with the five of diamonds, he couldn't stop seeing the Queen icon at the center as Atra, and he pursed his lips together as he added it to his hand.

And meanwhile, Husk snorted in amusement as he checked his hand.

"Yeah that does sound like the fuck. Stalk 'em for a few weeks to see if they're worth his time then providing an offer," confirmed Husk as he removed a card from his hand and gestured at Mika with it. In response, Mika nodded as Husk replaced his discarded card with a Ace of Kings. "So you accepted a deal with em or somethin'?"

"No. I just agreed to work with him until there's no reason to," answered Augus. "I wouldn't make a deal with him even if I was dying."

"You're smarter than you let on, kid," complemented Husk with a nod as Mika made a Check, slowly but surely getting used to the basics of poker. "So what, Al' and Barby got a business partnership now or something?"

"I don't know," replied Mika truthfully as Husk rolled his eyes.

"Course ya don't. Maybe I gave you too much credit in the brain department," quipt Husk, snorting whilst Mika had a look at his deck in confusion. The guy was clearly confused as to what his cards even meant, something which amused the cat demon greatly as he watched the kid scratch his cheek with that mechanical arm of his. "So why exactly didja even bother working with Al, anyhow? So far, you're not showing me that you're really smart, but at the same time you don't seem dumb either. Surely you saw that Al' is just out to entertain himself, right?"

"Working with him is less boring than working with Barbatos," replied Mika as he removed the Queen card from his hand and stared at it closely. "Alastor is more… creative with the things he makes me do."

"Your definition of 'less boring' involves being attacked on a daily basis, being sent to harass Vox or somethin' along those lines?" asked Husk rather smugly as he raised an oversized brow. In response, Mika closed his eyes and shrugged.

"As long as it keeps boredom away," admitted Mika, a response that Husk, admittedly chuckled at.

"You sound like a real party, kid," quipt Husk with a toothy smirk as Augus shrugged in response. "You not afraid to die or something? I mean, I'm a bit of a hypocrite for saying this, but it wouldn't hurt to try and aim high down here. Someone like ya' could probably become a… erm, Medium Rank Sinner or whatever the fuck if you tried hard enough."

"No interest," was his nearly immediate response from Mika, who lowered the cards he had in his hand to look Husk in the eye. Admittedly, the cat demon was taken aback by that unexpected answer, though Mika did have enough decency within him to continue on speaking. "I died once already. It didn't feel too bad, so dying a second time doesn't really scare me anymore. There's no one here that I want to protect, anyways. Nothing to really live for."

"Jeez," mumbled Husk under his breath after Mika finished explaining, with the cat demon's wings lowering down until they rested against his back as he processed Mika's words. "The fuck is even up with kids these days…"

His answer was a shrug from Mika before he went back to checking on his cards, leaving Husk to his own as he sighed and discarded one of his. At that, the card dealer nodded and offered him a replacement, and by then, the cat demon had on him a Full House, something that even caught him by surprise.

'_Well, didn't see that coming,' _admitted Husk mentally as he shrugged and laid his hand onto the poker table for Mika to have a look.

"Read em and weep, kid, Full House!" announced Husk rather proudly. His moment of pride was, however, brought down a few notches when he saw how confused Mika looked, prompting him to sigh. "Look, kid, I won the match. Full House is the best card combination of the bunch, ya hear?"

"Oh," was his only response from Mika, who placed his cards down to let Husk have a look at its contents. The cat demon snorted when he saw an Ace of Kings, Queen of Hearts, Five of Diamonds, an Ace and a Spade. All powerful cards in their own rights, though when combined they didn't really amount to anything really significant. "I guess I lost."

"You _guess_? Fuck, you lost harder than that time I got drunk and got lost in the toilet!" retorted Husk rather mockingly as he laughed and leaned back on his seat. Mika replied with a mild quirk of his brow, and Husk sighed after his laughter died down. "But still, for a newbie, I _guess _you did alright. Be glad that I wasn't playing this completely serious."

"Ah," responded Mika, sounding just as he usually was as he stood picked the cards up. "So I lost."

"Yeah. So I ain't comin with ya. Tough luck, kid," quipt Husk as he leaned back on his chair. Mika, much to Husk's surprise, replied with a mild nod as he picked the poker cards up and handed them to the card dealer. "What, no rematch? No 'but wait'? Ya ain't gonna try and drag me the fuck out?"

"No reason to," replied Mika with a shrug. "I can care less about this job he gave me. Only took it because I was bored and because the payment was… nice."

"Jeez. what exactly did Al' want to pay you?" inquired Husk out of curiosity. He had a feeling that it was quite a hefty sum of money if Mika, a beginner, was willing to play a round of poker against him just to get a chance of doubling the amount he'd receive. Or maybe it was women. Or perhaps both…

"Raisins," answered Mika, an answer that led to a complete reboot of Husk's mind as he stared at Augus in shock. Upon noticing this, Mika extended his _Lupus Rex_ arm forward and snapped its fingers in front of his face. Unfortunately, the snap came out more as the excessively loud scraping of metal against metal which was truly painful on the ears, though it was more than enough to snap Husk out of it.

"HUH?! WHA?!" demanded Husk, his mind having rebooted by now as he blinked at Mika. "Oh, it's you."

"You blanked out for a moment," mentioned Mika as Husk rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, mainly because you're asking for RAISINS as payment, kid!" retorted Husk as he pointed a finger at Mika. "You know that the Radio Fucker is an Overlord, right? He can offer you _much _more than just raisins."

"I don't have much interest in anything else. Besides, Barbatos pays me some money whenever I finish one of his jobs, though he doesn't call me as much these days," admitted Mika rather sincerely as he reached into his Tekkadan jacket and pulled a raisin out of it. Husk watched as he popped it into his mouth and chewed, and he was just a little surprised when Mika showed that he had enough manners to swallow it before speaking. "I don't know if the people I knew when I was alive are in Hell with me. I assume they're not, so I don't have anything to protect at the moment. I don't have anything to really strive for here either. So-"

"So you're just doin' whatever the fuck you please, huh?" concluded Husk. "And right now you value raisins over money for some fuckin reason?"

The nod Mika gave him was enough to make the cat demon roll his eyes as he sighed. That… was an awful reason to justify the fact that he chose raisins to be his payment. But then again, in a strange way, it was strangely admirable. The pilot didn't seem to care much at all for money, social status or even some form of notoriety. He was here to live in the moment, and in some way, Husk reckoned that he could respect that.

So much to that his mouth seemed to go on autopilot for just a few seconds.

"Hm, hey kid, you wanna get a drink with me?" inquired Husk out of nowhere, surprising even Mika as he turned to glance at the cat demon with a raised brow. In response to that glance, Husk snorted. "Hey, the fuck's with that look? I'm inviting you for a drink and you just fuckin' give me the stink eye? Just say yes or no, kid!"

"... sure," replied Mika, seeing nothing else he could do at the moment as Husk chuckled and led the kid over to the bar. Once he was there, the cat demon got two bottles of cheap booze for the two of them, given to them by the same fire demon bartender Mika had consulted with earlier. Sure, Mika could've been underaged. He certainly did look underaged, but fuck it!

This was Hell, and there were pretty much no rules down here!

* * *

**Several hours later**

The sound of knocking on the hotel room door alerted Alastor to the return of Mikazuki, and Niffty was quick to leap off the king sized bed in the room and rushed towards the door to open it.

"Omigosh, is Husk alright?" inquired Niffty as soon as she opened it and saw that Mikazuki had the arm of an unconscious Husk slung over his shoulder. The cat demon smelled like a bar that constantly sold cheap booze, and Mika himself didn't smell much better. If anything, he smelled worse, what with the stench of puke that came off his person. "And Mister Mikazuki, you stink again!"

"Ah," was Mika's only response to Niffty as he dragged Husk into the hotel room and tossed the still unconscious cat demon onto the bed. Once he did, he was quick to remove his jacket and hand it to Niffty, who took the hint and got ready to clean it of whatever filth Husk had contaminated it with.

Off to the side, Alastor chuckled mildly as he eyed the returning pilot.

"I won't lie, my little gremlin, I didn't expect you to be able to pull off the impossible and bring Husk back!" admitted Alastor as he snapped his fingers and held his palm out. And within a moment's notice, a bag of raisins appeared on his palm. "But you did good, kid! Now go clean yourself up before you get your reward!"

"Ah," replied Mika with a mild nod as he made his way to the bathroom, only to pause briefly and turn towards the still unconscious Husk with a neutral expression.

He kept his eyes on the guy for a brief moment before looking away and entering the bathroom, leaving Alastor behind to wonder what could have possibly occurred between the two…

* * *

**Why yes I did reference JoJo for this chapter. That… is strangely disappointing for myself.**

**So enter; Husk, and we're one step closer to the pilot of Hazbin Hotel. Give me three more chapters before then. But until then, I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I personally found it interesting to write… mainly because I did reference JJBA for it. **

**I don't play poker, if you're wondering. Don't gamble my dudes. Use that money on Gunpla… or Hazbin Hotel merch, depending on your preference. I for one would like an Alastor figure to pose with the MG Barbatos. **

**So uh, reviews!**

* * *

**DizzyNepNep: I'm glad you think so! Here's another chapter for you!**

**King of 2211: no man can resist Niffy, I tell you. Not even Mikazuki**

**Advanced-ZeroX: well you see, the answer to that is {REDACTED DUE TO SPOILERS}**

* * *

**Hey fun fact, this story was originally meant to be rated M.**

**No, not because of anything sexual.**

**It's because I wanted to make a Rated M for Mika joke.**

**I really need to work on my sense of humor. **


	9. Growth Spurt

"It hurts."

At that, everyone present could only turn towards a jacketless Mikazuki, who was staring at his regular arm with a somewhat confused expression.

Husk was quick to lower his flask and glance in Mika's general direction from his spot in the hotel room while Niffty stopped patching up the hole in his jacket, with her single eye now glued onto the pilot, who kept his gaze on his flesh and blood for Alastor, he simply eyed Mika from where he sat, tearing his gaze away from his book.

As usual, the Radio Demon's smile was still present, something that made him nearly unreadable, with the only indication of his curiosity being his mildly raised brow.

"Mr Mikazuki?" muttered Niffty as she placed his jacket off to the side and moved to the pilot's side. As she did, Augus glanced in her general direction with a raised brow, surprised at the genuinely worried expression Niffty had. Hard to believe that she was a demon, honestly, though he dismissed that thought as another wave of pain surged through his regular arm. "Is something wrong?"

"My arm. It hurts," muttered Mika, the fingers of his regular arm twitching a little as he spoke. At that, Niffty tilted her head a little off to the side before she moved to place a hand atop his regular arm, and that gesture was enough to make Mika's lip twitch in apparent pain, though he didn't show any signs of it outside of that.

Hell, Niffty didn't even acknowledge it. The only thing she did acknowledge, however, was how… cold the limb felt. Almost as though it were dead. Sure, this was Hell, but demons still radiated heat. They radiated, for the lack of a better term, _life_.

And Mika's arm sure as Hell wasn't radiating either at the moment.

Perhaps this had something to do with his last task from Alastor? He did tell him to fight some sorta ice demon working under that Overlord, Velvet, didn't he? If so, perhaps… no, that couldn't be right. He fought and killed that demon yesterday! And she remembered his arm being warm, even after he had melted ice that was over three inches thick off it!

So that left only one option…

"Oh no…" muttered the cyclops demon as she looked Mika in the eye. In response, Mika simply raised his brow in confusion, unsure of what to make of those two words as Husk grumbled about losing his queen card from over at his corner of the room. Meanwhile, Alastor's ears perked up at the sound of that, and his smile grew wider as a result.

"Hm?" replied Mika, his gaze fixed on the cyclops, who seemed rather worried about speaking of what was happening to his arm, though Augus was a patient fellow, as evident by how he simply waited silently for an answer.

And as luck would have it, before Mika could run out of patience, he felt a hand rest atop the shoulderpad of his _Lupus Rex _arm, prompting him to glance towards whoever had done that and raise his brow when he made eye contact with Alastor. The faint sound of static was apparent as the Radio Demon glanced down at him, with his smile unsurprisingly maintained as he chuckled briefly.

"Don't be such a ruffian, Mikazuki Augus! Niffty is clearly uncomfortable with speaking the truth! And Hell, why reveal it so quickly?! It would ruin the surprise!" scolded Alastor, leaning down until his face was right next to Mika's as he spoke. Mika frowned as he moved away the Radio Demon as Niffty blinked a little, though she remained silent as the Overlord chuckled and adjusted his monocle. "Though seeing as how I consider myself to be a gentleman with some standards, I will give you some advice…"

And at that, the Radio Demon's tone darkened, with his smile growing so wide that it could split his face in half if it were to increase in size. It was enough to make Augus get somewhat defensive, though he did still hear what the Radio Demon had to say.

"Be prepared…"

* * *

And admittedly, Mika did feel a chill go up his spine as he processed those words. Glancing at his arm, Mika frowned as he clenched and unclenched it gently, feeling a small amount of pain surge through it as he did.

But that was all it was, right? Pain would eventually come to pass, and he'd be stronger for it… right?

Pain… so much pain…

His arm, from his shoulder down to the tips of his fingers, felt as though it had been dipped in lava. It had started as a mild pain at first, but as the days went by, that pain only intensified., Augus had assumed that he could weather the pain… though by now, it had gotten so bad that he found himself unable to move his limb, with every twitch of his arm causing him immense pain.

Hell, it had gotten so bad that he was unable to even move that arm, essentially crippling him as both Alastor's hired help and Barbatos' long distance hitman until the pain subsided, though thankfully the former didn't mind as he saw Mikazuki's agony as entertainment in of itself. As for the latter, he was not informed of any of this.

Niffty was surprisingly worried for the pilot's wellbeing, especially for a demon. The little cyclops stayed by his side at all times, typically offering her help whenever possible. Mika did feel rather grateful for her help, though he wasn't able to show it properly due to the pain in his arm. Granted, the guy probably wouldn't be able to show it properly even without the pain.

Husk, on the other hand… was still Husk. Drunk, rather uninterested in the pilot's whole ordeal and usually passed out, as per usual, though according to Niffty, the cat demon did (somewhat begrudgingly) provide Mika some help with the jobs he had been issued by Barbatos whilst he was out of commission, at one point returning half drunk and somewhat injured, though Niffty had mentioned that it would be fine as long as he got his share of his payment after Augus' arm was better.

The pain had lasted… more or less for three days, with the pain intensifying tenfold with each passing day, though the pilot had refused to show any actual pain outside of the occasional grimace.

And yet… at the end of the third day, when the skin on his arm began splitting, he couldn't keep it in.

The pilot vaguely remembered how it happened, with him just sitting on the bed of the hotel room, Alastor by the side, reading his book while Niffty offered him a cup of what was hopefully water. He was still unused to being coddled in such a way, though he still accepted it from Niffty, who smiled as he took it with his _Lupus Rex _arm.

And yet, the moment she had released the cup, Mika widened his eyes as a massive amount of pain began surging through his regular flesh and blood arm. It was enough to make him grimace a little at first, though the moment that cup had crashed against the ground, enough pain surged through his arm to make the pilot lose his cool demeanor.

His mild groans became a loud chorus of pained wailing within seconds, and Niffty couldn't help but gasp as she leaned forward to check on her colleague. However, before she could, Alastor snapped his fingers and within a second, the cyclops was teleported in front of him and away from Augus, who had fallen onto his side by then.

"Now now, Niffty. You and I both know that this is standard for whenever this happens. Just leave little Augus be for now. After all, you could be unintentionally hurt by him if you get too close," suggested Alastor, smiling as he patted Niffty over the head. And while she did obey the command of her boss, the little demon couldn't help but feel just a little guilty as she watched Mika grab his regular arm with his _Lupus Rex _limb, crying out in pain as the sound of skin tearing and flesh ripping apart could be heard.

* * *

Several hours had passed before the sound of skin and flesh tearing apart subsided, and by then, Husk had returned from god knows where.

When he had entered the hotel room Alastor had booked out, however, the cat demon wasn't exactly prepared to see Mikazuki lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the damn place, much less how Niffty was actually _ignoring _the blood that dirtied the ground, with her attention being on Mika.

"What the fuck happened here?" grumbled Husk, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he shut the hotel door, his face buried in his free hand with his fingers spread apart just enough for him to glare at Alastor through them. "Oi, Radio cunt. Mind spilling the beans? Didja get hungry and decide to eat the fucker?"

"I could explain, or you could see for yourself," suggested Alastor, not looking away from his book as he spoke, though his tone did have hints of sarcasm, most likely in response to the bold claim of him having eaten Mika's arm. Husk didn't like the sound of that, though he nodded as he approached Mika, with Niffty glancing up at him as he did.

"So, uh, mind tellin' me…" muttered Husk, only to trail off when he noticed that something about Mika was off.

Specifically… it was how the pilot's left arm looked…

"... what the fuck is this?" muttered Husk, frowning as he crouched down to look at Mika's new left arm in shock. His response was nothing more than silence from Niffty and a mild chuckle from Alastor, something that didn't bode well with him. "Hey, I asked a fuckin' question! Mind giving me an answer?!"

"Ah, well you see, Husker ol' pal," began Alastor, smiling as Husk glared at the Radio Demon, an unsavoury frown on his lips as he listened.

"Mikazuki is simply growing up!"

* * *

Mika had woken up roughly a day after his arm had undergone its… transformation, so to speak.

The moment his eyes cracked open, the pilot immediately realized that something was wrong, though that in itself wasn't hard to notice when he saw that Husk, of all demons, appeared worried about him. Niffty too appeared rather relieved that he had woken up as well, though Alastor didn't seem to care. Figures, Mika reckoned, considering how he was nothing more than entertainment to the Radio Demon.

"Ah, you're awake, Mikazuki," greeted Alastor as Augus sat upright, frowning as he shook his head. As he did, Niffty blinked her eye and immediately leapt onto the pilot's chest.

"Mr Mikazuki, are you feeling alright?! When your arm exploded I thought you were done for, but it was just natural growth and all that! But even so, you lost a shitton of blood! And your new arm looks cool! What is it based on? Could you-" rambled Niffty, confusing Mika to no end as he simply glanced at the little cyclops, with his head aching a little as he listened. After some time, however, Husk apparently took pity on him as he grabbed Niffty by the collar of her shirt and lifted her off Mika's chest.

"Hey now, the fucker just woke up. Leave em the fuck alone," grumbled Husk, not sounding drunk for once as he glared at Niffty in his hand. The cyclops seemed to understand as she nodded a little apologetically, and at that, Husk sighed. "But regardless, you feelin' peachy? That new arm feeling alright? Sure, you're a proper bastard but you're good at keeping the casino fuckers away from me, and with one arm outta commission you'd do a worse job than you usually do!"

And at that, Mika simply raised his regular hand up to his head and rubbed it in confusion…

… only to pause briefly when he realized how… cold it felt when it made contact with the side of his head.

"...what…?" muttered the pilot as he glanced at his left arm, only to widen his eyes when he saw what it looked like.

Instead of the rough, sunbaked skin he was used to, Mikazuki's arm was, for the lack of a better term, the arm of the _Barbatos Form 1_. His actual arm was now the inner frame of _Barbatos_, pre-Lupus upgrade, and the outer armor was that of its first form, with the pure white upper and lower arm armour. Unlike his _Lupus Rex_ arm, his new left arm had no shoulderpad, with just the inner frame skeleton hanging off it, and the most noteworthy thing was the light blue gauntlet that rested on the outer side of the forearm armour, and as of now, it was so shiny that Mika could see his own reflection on it.

For a moment, Mika simply eyed his new left arm, his expression unreadable as he did so, with Husk and Niffty both looking somewhat curious as to how he'd react to it after the initial shock had worn off. Hell, even Alastor was glancing in his general direction with an expecting smirk.

That smirk did admittedly falter a little when Mika simply snorted, however.

"Hm," muttered Augus, clenching and unclenching his new left hand, with the sound of metal gently shifting against metal somewhat audible as he glanced at it. He gently tapped his _Lupus Rex _claws against the gauntlet, noting how durable it sounded as he did so, probably able to tank a minor magical attack if needed. "Neat."

And to that, the Radio Demon couldn't help but let out a slightly disappointed chuckle.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," quipt Alastor as he took a sip from his cup of questionable liquid, though Mika ignored his comment as he kept his gaze on his new arm.

"How did this happen?" asked Mika, still ignoring Alastor as he clenched his new left hand into a fist, feeling rather surprised at how natural it felt to move his new mechanical limb, though then again, his _Lupus Rex _arm moved just as well as his old one, so he supposed that this was to be expected…

"Well, you see, you lil fuck. When, uh… when you first come down to Hell and all that…" muttered Husk, rubbing his chin with his claws as he tried to put whatever he wished to say into words. Niffty herself also seemed somewhat unsure of what to say, though thankfully enough, Mika was patient, and as such, he silently waited for an answer.

… one that came from an unlikely source.

"_If I may?" _came the vaguely familiar voice of Alastor's sentient microphone cane. Even Alastor appeared somewhat surprised that his cane had spoken up so abruptly, though he didn't see any reason to stop it as he held it up, allowing Augus to hear it better. _"Ah, thank you my good chap!"_

Alastor chuckled in response, with the microphone speaking up as soon as his chuckle ended.

"_Now, settle down little pilot, for I shall be telling you of Demonology 101! Or more specifically, Sinner Biology 101!" _continued the microphone, with Augus raising his brow as he anticipated the microphone's explanation. _"Allow me to be brief, When a Sinner first arrives in Hell, their physical appearance will not be altered __**too intensely**__. A small change here, a new eye there, all that creamy stuff! However, the more powerful a Sinner grows, or if they grow older, their physical appearance will be altered, inevitably turning them into a demonic shadow of themselves!"_

And at that, Mika couldn't help but glance at Husk and Niffty with raised brows, silently wondering what they looked like prior to all this. The two seemed to notice his gaze, however, as the cat demon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I had a bitchin beard, just so you know," quipt Husk rather sarcastically, puffing his chest out in a rather proud way whilst Niffty chuckled.

"I think I was a little taller," added Niffty, holding both hands behind her back as she nodded. "I… don't exactly remember, though. It's been… how long has it been…? I forgot."

"_Well bein' down ere' in Hell does make your memory fuzzy, that much I can confirm!"_ proclaimed the microphone, with Alastor rolled his eyes as he chuckled, half agreeing with that statement as the sentient cane continued speaking. _"But back on point, the longer you remain in Hell without dying, the more powerful you will become, and as a result, your body will change to suit your more powerful state!_

"_These changes usually begin between three months to a year after arrival in Hell, and all subsequent changes will be random from that point on! Your first change is rather tame, all things considered."_

"Ah," was all Mika could really say at this point, glancing at his _Barbatos _arm as he nodded. The microphone seemed to be surprised at how well Mika was taking all this new info, though he didn't comment on it as he continued.

"_They say that a majority of the demonic maturity changes that Sinners go through are typically tied to their misdeeds in life," _pointed out the microphone, prompting Augus to raise a brow. _"If I may, what exactly __**did **__you do to get an arm like that?"_

And to that, Mika couldn't help but offer a mild frown as he clenched his new left fist. Via his peripheral vision, the pilot noticed that Niffty was jogging up to his side, and before long, she was examining his new arm with great interest.

"For once, I'm with the Radio fucker, or at least I'm with his microphone. I know you piloted a robot and all that, but for you to use it so much that it's come to define who you are in Hell? What the Hell did you do to it to form such a deep connection?" inquired Husk as he approached the pilot.

Off to the side, Alastor himself also appeared curious, as evident by how he was glancing in their general direction, his grin slightly wider and an eyebrow quirked up. Hell, his microphone also seemed curious as to why Mika's arm had become like this…

And to that, Mika couldn't help but shrug a little, with him glancing at his new left hand as Niffty stared at her reflection on his new gauntlet.

"_Sins… save…? That… is not for you to decide."_

For something to define him so intensely that it literally became a part of him in Hell…

"Barbatos_… hold nothing back… give me all that you have…"_

Perhaps…

"_Not enough… more… more… __**more**__. Give me more…. _**Barbatos**_!"_

The pilot offered a small smile as he found his answer, and as small as it was, his smile was noticable enough to make Husk, Alastor and the sentient microphone perk up.

"Hey, robo limbs, what's so funny?" inquired Husk with a raised brow, prompting Mika to shake his head as he rubbed his _Lupus Rex_ hand against the metal plating of his legs.

"_Come on, _Barbatos_. I'll remove these bothersome chains for you. That's our prey, our __**enemy**__, and we can't hold back against it. So show me… _

"_Show me your true power…"_

"It's nothing," assured Mika, closing his eyes as he shook his head, wiping the smile off his face as he glanced at Husk.

"_We… can't stop yet… right, _Barbatos_? You… don't wish for that, don't you?"_

The cat demon seemed a little unsure at that response, though he ended up begrudgingly nodding a little as Mika raised his new arm up to eye level, glancing at the white armour rather nostalgically, ignoring how Niffty was clinging onto it.

"_Let's do it then… let's howl together… one last time…"_

"This arm, I like it! It's shiny and clean! Keep it that way!" proclaimed Niffty with a smile, and at that, Mika nodded.

"I do too…" replied the pilot as Alastor chuckled, his smirk growing in size as Augus sighed.

'_I guess even before now, _Barbatos _is still with me.'_

* * *

**Short, simple and a little underwhelming, but either way I do hope you enjoyed this short chapter. **

**Being a bit of a prick, I couldn't help but add a bit of additional lore into the Hazbin Hotel world. It's definitely non-canon, and if it is, then what luck! But as of now, demonic maturity is my own headcanon for the series. I hope you guys enjoyed it. **

**I'll be honest, I'm terrible at outros… so I won't doddle and just head off to the review replies.**

* * *

**megakdra100: though that would be interesting, I will say that they probably won't. Watching the past is something I'm not too fond of, feels a little unnatural, even for me. **

**Niuzu0130: why thank you**

**Dead344156: thanks my dude!**

**DizzyNepNep: well I'm glad I managed to put a smile on your face! And regarding I.M.P and Sir Pentious, well, perhaps… and regarding Gunpla, MG all the way!**

**Artyom-Dreizehn: thanks! I too enjoy writing the reactions of people towards the new force in their world. And if I'm honest, I'm also a little excited about writing the chapter for the pilot… **

**King of 2211: now that I think of it, Husk could definitely fit in with Tekkadan as a sorta opposite to Old Man Yuki, being worried for the team in a more aggressive manner. **

**robertmusical12: why, you're welcome!**

**miku8967: I couldn't help myself, tbh. The opportunity was there and I grabbed it by the buttocks as hard as possible.**

**starscreamer11: well, here ya go**

**rafaelzan1: I'm glad you enjoyed it! And frankly speaking Niffty was the most fun to write. She's just great. Then again… Vaggie will be quite the trip… **

**Cylon One: strange chapters are usually my speciality, honestly. And at this point Mika's just here for a good time, so raisins are the best reward for him**

**Alright last review, being the longest of them all. **

**coldblue2015: so regarding your questions, I believe that the first half of question 1 has kinda been answered by this chapter. As for the second half, I'll touch on it in a future chapter. For the second question, no, though I believe that question has been answered by this chapter as well. **

**Regarding Angel Dust, Vaggie and Charlie, yes they will have 1-on-1 chapters, and in regards to the exterminator bit, well… I do have something planned. **

**Stay tuned for that.**

* * *

**Well that just about sums it all up. Have a nice day, yall!**

**Oh and there's a P-Bandai expansion set for the MG 1/100 Gundam Barbatos! It looks so damn good, but FUCK P-Bandai is expensive!**

**Fingers crossed for a retail MG Barbatos Full Set!**


	10. Surprises of the Afterlife

Learning how to use a new arm wasn't that much of an issue, all things considered.

Back in the good ol' days of being alive, Mika had to contend with not being able to use more than half of his limbs, and as such, having his organic arm be replaced by that of _Barbatos'_ was not much of an issue.

Hell, if anything, it only made him more effective at completing the jobs that he was given by either Barbatos or Alastor!

According to the Radio Demon himself, the gauntlet segment of his new left arm was coated in a sort of demonic field. Simply put, like how Nanolaminated Armour could deflect Beam Shots, his gauntlet could do the same with magical and perhaps even some physical attacks more effectively than his _Lupus Rex _arm, though as a downside, like Nanolaminated Armour, repeated shots would more than likely weaken its effect.

That in itself was fine with Augus. One more defensive armament was always nice, after all, and things wouldn't be interesting without some challenge, yes?

Of course, considering how both his arms were now mechanical and, Mika found himself unable to wear his Tekkadan jacket normally any more. As a compromise, he opted to wear it how Orga did following Tekkadan's establishment as a proper company, with him draping the jacket over his shoulders like a sort of cape. It worked well enough…

And honestly, having the gauntlet, alongside a stronger left arm, did make his jobs in Hell much simpler…

* * *

**Three days after getting a new arm**

"QUIT HIDIN' AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!"

Those were the words yelled out by a rather large demon who had the appearance of a dinosaur, perhaps a T-Rex with arms that were longer than how they were meant to be, as he let out a massive volley of bullets at the chunk of debris Mika and a drunk Husk were hiding behind.

Armed with an abnormally large minigun, of all things, the T-Rex demon was really doing his best to off Mika and Husk, though rather ironically, despite their current situation, neither seemed to care much about their safety, nor did they seem interested in listening to the demon's taunting.

Instead, Mika sighed as he pulled out his pistol and cocked its barrel back, his brows lowered in irritation as Husk chuckled and leaned off to the side, drunk off his horse and mumbling gibberish.

A handful of hours prior, Mika had been told to kill a demon that worked with the Overlord, Vox. Said demon worked in a bar in _Pentagram City_, and Augus reckoned that it wouldn't have been much of an issue… then Husk insisted on tagging along. When asked why, he just said he needed a drink, and though it was probably a dumb move, Mika let him tag along, having seen no reason not to as long as he stayed out of his way.

As luck would have it, however, Husk, after getting drunk off his horse, ended up announcing to everyone why Mika was here, unintentionally ruining the entire operation and causing his target's bodyguard to go on the offensive against them.

Long story short, the bar was partially destroyed, with Mika and Husk now hiding behind a chunk of debris to avoid being torn to shreds by the T-Rex demon's minigun.

"Look, Mika, have I ever told you about that one time I got piss drunk and stripped my clothes off and ran around all of Hell?" inquired Husk as he leaned on the pilot, who raised a brow at that.

"You don't have clothes," pointed out Mika, to which Husk gasped and began mumbling about himself being naked. At that point, however, Mika ended up ignoring him as he breathed in deeply, wincing just a little when a bullet whizzed up above his head, close enough to make his ahoge wiggle a little. "Good grief."

And at that, the pilot held his pistol in his _Lupus Rex _hand, with the clawed index finger just barely wrapping around the trigger, before he stood up and poked his upper body over the debris he was hiding behind. At that, the T-Rex demon smirked and focused all his fire on Augus, prompting him to hold his gauntleted left arm up to shield himself from the volley.

Thanks to the invisible magic field on his gauntlet, most of the bullets either bounced or ricochet off it, though he knew that it wouldn't last long, prompting him to quickly aim his pistol with his _Lupus Rex _arm and fire.

By some ungodly miracle, Mika's shot landed where he wanted it to, right on the T-Rex demon's hand that held the trigger of his minigun. The shot caused it to briefly release the trigger and inadvertently stopped the volley of bullets coming Mika's way, giving him enough time to lunge over the debris he was hiding behind and charge at the demon.

"Gah! SONOVA-" began the demon, only to pause when Mika rushed towards him. Noticing that, the T-Rex demon quickly grabbed his minigun's trigger, ignoring the pain in his arm as he got ready to open fire, though before he could take aim, the pilot leapt up into the air and landed on the barrel of the minigun, shocking the demon briefly.

Taking advantage of his shock, Mika used the minigun's barrel as leverage to lunge towards the T-Rex demon and tackle him with the shoulder of his _Lupus Rex _arm. The demon staggered back a little at that, and when he recovered, the demon snarled in anger as he looked up to glare at Mika…

… and his anger quickly turned into horror when he saw that Mikazuki was now holding his abnormally massive minigun. Despite his size, the pilot seemed to have little to no problem in holding the weapon up, with his gauntleted left hand holding the trigger handle while his _Lupus Rex _hand supported it up.

The T-Rex demon quickly suppressed his horror, however, and charged at Mika, intending to retake his weapon before Augus could work out how to use it. When he was close enough, however, and as he got ready to launch a punch at him, Mika lowered his brows in irritation and simply swung the barrel of the minigun at the demon's arm as though it were a weapon.

The barrel of the minigun slammed into the T-Rex demon's fist and probably broke his arm, prompting him to recoil a little, though Mika wasn't content with leaving it off there, as he quickly swung the minigun's barrel once more, this time slamming it into the side of the demon's knee, causing him to fall to one knee in pain.

"Tsk, you'll-" began the T-Rex demon, only to shut his mouth when he realized that the barrels of the minigun were now pointed directly at his face at point blank range. "...oh shit."

And at that, Mika opened fire, obliterating the demon with his own weapon within seconds, with the mechanical limbs of the pilot suppressing the recoil as he fired. Not long after, all that remained of the T-Rex demon was just a messy pile of flesh, and at that, Mika sighed and glanced at the minigun.

'_I always wanted to use one of these…' _thought the pilot rather wistfully, having recalled his time whilst alive. As a child soldier, he did occasionally think of using a minigun, having considered them to be 'cool', though if he were honest, now that he was actually using one, he thought that it was rather underwhelming.

Either way, Mika didn't dwell much on that as he walked back towards the debris Husk was still behind, peeking over it to see the cat demon snoring away behind it. The pilot was impressed that he could sleep through all the shooting, though then again, Husk was always full of surprises, so this wasn't too much of a surprise.

With a mild sigh, Mikazuki used his gauntleted left arm and grabbed Husk by the scruff of his collar whilst he held the massive minigun over his shoulder with his _Lupus Rex _arm. Though he had no real use for it, he reckoned that he could probably pawn it off to someone for a good price, or perhaps exchange it for something more useful from I.M.P.

'_Maybe they'll have some raisins…'_ thought Mika with a small smile as he adjusted his grip on the minigun as he walked, dragging Husk behind him all the while, ignoring how he had more or less failed a mission in favor of the possibility of raisins from I.M.P.

* * *

**Five days after getting a new arm**

"You know, even with hands like those, I think you could probably learn how to sew!"

At that, Mika simply raised a brow as eyed Niffty sew a hole in his jacket back up.

This was a regular occurrence at this point, with Mika's jacket and, at times, his blue shirt getting torn up whenever he went off to get a job done for either Alastor or Barbatos. He was offered replacements by Alastor as compensation, though he rejected all of them, considering them to be unworthy of replacing his Tekkadan one.

Of course, with Niffty being Niffty, she wouldn't allow the holes in his attire to remain, and as such, she offered to fix them up whenever necessary. Augus saw no reason to decline, so he just let her do her thing.

Shockingly enough, Niffty did quite an amazing job at keeping his attire presentable. Every sewed up hole didn't look out of place in the slightest, much to Mika's apparent delight.

And now, Niffty was working her magic once more, sewing together Mika's jacket with the pilot helping out by holding the ball of yawn in his gauntleted left hand, only for the little cyclops to mention how he could probably sew in spite of his mechanical limbs.

"I don't think it's a good idea," muttered Mika, raising a brow as he held up his _Lupus Rex _arm and flexed its clawed fingers to prove his point. Niffty either didn't notice or she didn't care about it, however, as she smiled a little and held the needle she was using up to eye level.

"Well, you won't know until you try!" pointed out Niffty as she pulled on the needle, in turn closing the hole in Mika's jacket, before she turned towards him, holding the needle up to him as he tilted his head a little. "Come on, give it a try!"

And at that, Mika sighed and reluctantly took the needle.

**Some time later**

"... so, am I drunk or did you two get a change of wardrobe?"

At that, Niffty couldn't help but giggle a little while Alastor's smile trembled a little. Husk simply stared between the two with his eyes showing his confused amusement as he entered the room, brows lowered as he shut the door.

"Well, I taught Mika how to sew, and he made these for us!" replied Niffty as she tugged on her new jacket, her new, rather poorly sewed together Tekkadan jacket, as Alastor, somewhat indignantly, tugged on his as well. Husk seemed a little baffled by all that, though he said nothing as he nodded and walked past the two.

He was quickly stopped, however, when he saw Mika sitting close by, having finished sewing together another Tekkadan jacket as he used the claws of his _Lupus Rex _arm to cut the thread. Upon noticing Husk, the pilot blinked and held the newly finished jacket towards him.

"Oh fuck you," growled Husk, flipping the bird as Mika held it up to him. Even so, as he spoke, Husk felt Alastor's presence behind him as he blinked.

"Oh, Husker, my boy, you're ruining the mood!" chastised Alastor, placing a hand on the cat demon's shoulder as he spoke. The cat demon was quick to growl as he pushed Alastor's arm off his shoulder and turned to glare at him, though admittedly, his glare softened when he saw Niffty in front of him with a smile that was impossible to say no to.

"Please?" pleaded Niffty with a wide smile, and at that, the cat demon grimaced as he leaned forward.

"Fuck you."

And Mika would've been lying if he claimed that he didn't like that picture that Alastor took of the four of them in Tekkadan jackets.

* * *

**Two weeks after getting a new arm**

"So, you know how humans are extremely creative and all that?"

Frowning as Blitzo spoke to him, Mika raised his gauntlet left arm to redirect a jab from a rapier. The rapier gave his gauntlet a small cut, though aside from that, it was mostly undamaged, with Mika not acknowledging the mild damage it had received as he buried his _Lupus Rex _arm in the stomach of the demon who had attempted to stab him with it.

Off to the side, Blitzo, founder of I.M.P, brought a sledgehammer down onto another demon's head, pulverising it with little issue, before sighing and wiping the blood off his face. Currently, both were in a factory that belonged to the Overlord, Vox, and they were dealing with the few guards that were inside it.

"I was wondering, why hasn't any demon, Overlord or not, created something like those Gundams you humans made, but with Hell tech?" continued Blitzo, propping himself against the sledgehammer he had as he spoke. Mika had no answer to that as he kicked the demon that had his claws in his stomach back, launching his body towards another incoming demon in the process. "I'd like to steal one of those, y'know?"

"Ah," replied Mika as he wiped the blood off his claws, with Blitzo rolling his eyes before he threw the sledgehammer at another demon, with the head slamming into the demon's and killing them instantly.

"Y'know, you could learn to talk more," suggested Blitzo, smiling a little as Mika raised a brow. "Talking helps us form bonds! Just ask Moxxie! We formed a properly strong bond by yelling at each other!"

"I asked for your help to destroy this place, not to chat," reminded Mika, not pondering on if the bond Blitzo was speaking of was a healthy one as the imp in question rolled his eyes as Augus glanced at him.

"Yeah yeah, I know. You just wanna finish this mission, get your reward and all that," quipt Blitzo, gesturing unnecessarily as he pulled a massive pile of explosive charges out of seemingly nowhere as he spoke. "Destroying one of Vox's biggest factories in _Pentagram City_ is no small task, though I'll be honest, I'm just a little surprised that you came to get help from us instead of telling your current employee to help out."

"Alastor doesn't help much. He prefers to watch whenever possible," muttered Mika, prompting Blitzo to chuckle as he tossed the massive pile of explosive charges on the ground.

"Well I should've seen _that _coming," replied Blitzo, smirking as he turned to Mika. "That guy's quite a weird sonova bitch. Does stuff for his own amusement and all that, though at the very least the guy keeps most of his promises… for the most part."

Blitzo's tone reflected a small amount of bitterness towards Alastor, piquing Mika's curiosity as he opened his mouth to, for perhaps the first time since coming down to Hell, ask a question, though as luck would have it, before he could do so, the door closest to the two burst open, allowing Moxxie, Millie and _Loona_ walk in, with Loona holding onto the abnormally large minigun Mika had given I.M.P a handful of weeks prior in exchange for several packs of raisins and a handful of pistol clips.

"Oh, Moxxie, Millie, Loona!" greeted Blitzo, smiling as rushed towards the three to check on them. Moxxie didn't seem keen on his apparent worry while Millie simply giggled a little at Blitzo's protectiveness of them. Loona, on the other hand, simply propped the barrel of the minigun on the ground and leaned on the massive weapon as she thumbed her phone a handful of times. "Are you three alright? Nothing hurting?"

"Well, we would be better if you didn't MAKE US DEAL WITH AN ENTIRE ARMIES WORTH OF GUARDS!" yelled Moxxie, furious at how his boss had asked Loona, Millie and himself to be distractions while Blitzo and Mika broke into the factory they were meant to blow up. At that, Blitzo appeared rather hurt as he recoiled a little.

"Well… there weren't too many, right?" inquired Blitzo, prompting Millie to speak up this time.

"I believe there were well over fifty guards, with about two hundred of those… uh… AI controlled robots?" said Millie, and at that, Blitzo snapped his fingers.

"Damn, I guess I was wrong with my prediction," muttered Blitzo rather unhappily, and at that, Loona, still looking at her phone, snorted.

"Well, that's not much of a surprise," said the wolf demon rather nonchalantly as Blitzo recoiled.

"Loona!" proclaimed Blitzo indignantly before going on a rant in regards to how he had done his absolute best.

And at that, Mika couldn't help but feel a little amused at all this… and he also couldn't help but feel a little envious of it as well.

Though it was rather dysfunctional, I.M.P did seem rather tightly knit, almost like a sort of family in a way, and a thought like that made him shudder.

Man, he really missed Tekkadan…

* * *

**Present day **

How strange…

The Radio Demon often told Mika to do some interesting things, things that were more interesting and bombastic than what Barbatos typically told him to do at least, and Augus found himself getting used to the things he had been told to do by now.

And yet, he still found himself surprised when he was told by Alastor to come to this bar known as _Klub Kaiju_… relax? How peculiar, though Mika didn't question it as he entered the bar.

Upon entering, the pilot frowned as he elbowed his way through the crowd in the bar. It felt rather awkward, all things considered, to be in a bar without having to kill anyone, though he didn't dwell much on it as he shuffled up to the bar counter and sat on one of the chairs. And there he sat rather awkwardly as time went on, unsure on how to actually pass the time as he placed both his elbows on the counter and sat there silently.

Before long, however, a bartender approached him from the other side of the counter. Mika didn't acknowledge his existence until he cleared his throat.

"Y'know, I haven't seen you around before. You new here?" inquired the bartender in a… familiar voice. Upon hearing it, Mika turned his head up to have a look at the guy, only to raise his brow when he saw the massive cannon and machine gun stuck on the right and left side of the demon's back and the strange rectangular object that was sandwiched between both.

Those three things reminded Mika of _Flauros_… and the colours… a bright pink… it reminded him of the _Ryusei-Go_…

"Erm, I asked you a question, mind answering?" inquired the demon, still with his back turned towards him as he spoke. At that, Mika shook his head and snapped himself out of his trance, prompting him to frown and open his mouth to reply.

"Ah, I'm new here," confirmed Mika, and upon hearing his voice… the bartender dropped whatever he was holding onto the ground as he tensed up, something that caught Mika's attention as he frowned. That reaction combined with the things on this demon's back…

Could it be…?

Slowly and perhaps a little uncertainty, the bartender demon turned to look Mika in the eye… and when he did, both of them felt a massive amount of shock rush through them as they acknowledged the identity of the other.

"M-Mikazuki?!" proclaimed the bartender, stepping back in surprise as Mika too widened his eyes at his fellow Tekkadan pilot in shock.

Of course, his shock was warranted, especially when Mika was shocked as well.

"_Shino_… _Norba Shino_…" muttered Mika, the surprise rather clear in his voice as he and Shino looked at each other for a short amount of time. The _Ryusei Go's _pilot looked just as he remembered, with his light brown innerwear, Tekkadan jacket slung over his right arm, standard issue combat pants which were torn near the knees, unkempt brown hair and similarly brown eyes widened in shock. Like him, however, there were various… mechanical bits on the guy.

Aside from the cannon and massive vent that was attached to his back, Shino's entire left arm and both his legs from below the knees had been replaced with the arm and legs of Gundam _Flauros_. His right arm, on the other hand, had been replaced with the arm of his Shiden _Ryusei Go III_ from below the elbow, showing, like with Mika, the _Ryusei Go_ had followed him to the afterlife in more ways than one.

Opening his mouth, Mika was ready to break the tense silence, though before he could…

"Oi, Shino, is something wrong?" came yet another familiar voice, and at that, Mika turned around on his chair with his brows raised while Shino's look of shock faded away to allow his usual smile to appear.

As for Mika, he found his surprise growing as he made eye contact with the owner of the voice, who also appeared shocked as well as he widened his eyes.

"_Akihiro Atland_…" muttered Mika, his surprise still maintained as the pilot of the _Gusion Rebake Full City_ blinked in shock, though he was quick to shake it off as he offered a small smile, walking towards Augus as he did.

As with Shino, Akihiro looked just as Mika remembered, with his white innerwear, Tekkadan jacket slung over his right shoulder, spiky black hair and similarly black eyes eyeing Mika with a rather relieved glint.

And like both Mika and Shino, Akihiro had quite a few… extra bits on him, most notably the massive pair of binders that were attached to his back. Said binders looked very much like the sub-arm containers for the _Rebake Full City_. Aside from that, Atland's entire right arm had been replaced with the arm of the _Full City_ whilst his left was replaced by that of the regular _Rebake_, the colour difference being rather jarring, though unlike Mika and Shino, Akihiro's legs had not been replaced by those of the _Gusion's_.

"Mikazuki Augus…" replied Akihiro, blinking as he looked between the pilot of _Barbatos _and _Ryusei Go IV_ in apparent confusion before he allowed himself to chuckle. "Well, I guess we have some catching up to do, huh?"

"Yeah…" was all Mika could say before Shino laughed at this unexpected reunion. "It really is…"

* * *

**So how's everyone doing?**

**I'm doing pretty well, a little tired but still alive. The chapter was certainly something, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. **

**Man I'm terrible with outros. Let's just get to the review replies.**

* * *

**starscreamer11: never knew that there was a fanfic drought. You learn something new everyday. **

**coldblue2015: regarding your questions, the weapons will eventually show up in some way, and Mika **_**will**_** be visiting Atra and Kudelia… in a sort of way. Can't reveal too much due to spoilers, unfortunately. **

**megakdre100: well yes, he will eventually**

**Dead344156: well I'm glad you enjoyed it, and heres the next one!**

**King of 2211: well I for one am glad that you enjoyed that twist!**

**Cyclon One: nah the pun was pretty neat, and I'm glad you enjoyed how Mika interacted with Husk and Niffty!**

* * *

**That was quite a mediocre chapter, even for me. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it. **

**I'll see you guys next time. **


	11. Catching Up

"Ah! That's the stuff!"

At that, Mika snorted a little in amusement as he watched Shino down his third cup of alcohol, smirking as he stood behind the bar, with both Mika and Akihiro sitting in front of him with amused expressions as he slammed the empty glass down onto the table.

After the initial shock of reuniting with Akihiro and Shino had faded, Mika was quick to return to his usual self, with the only indication of him being happy with their presence being the minor twitch of the edge of his lips. Likewise, Akihiro didn't seem too enthused with Mika's presence, though there was an undeniable aura of familiarity resonating from the guy as he sat shoulder to head with his fellow pilot.

"You sure you don't want a shot?" inquired Shino with a smirk, only for Mika to shake a hand dismissively. Turning to Akihiro, Norba was somewhat disappointed when the buff guy turned down his offer as well, though he quickly shook it off before shrugging and downing another shot. "More for me I guess."

"Should you be doing that?" inquired Mika, raising a brow as he watched his magenta loving friend down another shot of alcohol. In response to that, Shino snickered and simply poured another shot while Akihiro smirked a little, ignoring the yells of various demons around them complaining about Shino not serving them as he answered for the guy. As for Shino, he simply yelled at them telling them where they could stick their complaints up.

"Shino has… special privileges around here. The owner of _Klub Kaiju_ took a shine to him," explained Akihiro, short and simple as always as Shino smirked and placed another empty shot onto the bar as he smirked.

"Hey, you're just jealous that the owner gave me the better job between the two of us!" retorted Shino, smirking as Akihiro rolled his eyes. Mika appeared rather confused, prompting Shino to explain himself. "So, erm, when I died, I kinda dropped down near _Klub Kaiju_. The owner of this place's pretty chill… by Hell's standards at least, so she basically swooped in, _tried _to kill me, failed and offered me a job here because she thought I'd be good by her side!"

If he were still alive, Mika probably wouldn't have believed that ridiculous claim made by Norba. Of course, they were all dead, and Hell, as Mika had learnt countless times in the past, was much more… unpredictable, for the lack of a better term, than the mortal realm, so hearing that the owner of _Klub Kaiju_ tried to kill Shino, failed and hired him wasn't too much of a shock at this point.

"Oi Akihiro, what's with the long face? Just because _Otachi_ fell for the Norba Charm doesn't mean you gotta be sour about it!" quipt Shino with a smirk as he waved Atland off. In response, Akihiro rolled his eyes before propping his elbows up on the countertop.

"Charm, you say?" retorted Akihiro dismissively as he rolled his eyes, reminding Shino of the times where he'd actively flinch whenever he saw _Klub Kaiju _owner, Otachi. Shino may have had some charm, just not as much as he'd like to think, but even he knew that some people, be they a purebred demon, sinner or even a normal human, were not worth charming.

"Oh shush you," grumbled Shino, saving his _Flauros_ arm dismissively as he spoke. "You took the offer, didn't you?"

"Only because she could spit acid and looked like she could swallow my head all in one go," defended Akihiro, prompting Mika to raise a brow as he began wondering how this Otachi demon was. Considering how she set Akihiro on edge, she was probably bad news. "Besides, I'm just working as the bouncer because I don't have much of a choice at this point at this point, and you're only serving as _Klub Kaiju's _bartender just to get free drinks."

"Pissed everyone off something fierce, but I'd be a damn fool to ignore all this free stuff!" defended Shino, smirking as he wiped his lips, something that almost made Mika smile. Never change, Shino. Never change… "But enough on that, I didn't bring over the best beer we had in _Klub Kaiju_ just to have you say I'm doing my job wrong!"

"But you are," pointed out Mika and Akihiro in perfect sync, prompting Shino to wave a hand at them dismissively while the Tekkadan heavyweights quickly exchanged glances, surprised at how perfectly timed that was.

"Yeah yeah whatever," dismissed Shino with a frown as he continued on. "Point is… Mika, where the Hell have you been this whole time?! Me and Aki were waiting for you this whole time!"

Pausing a little to snicker at his unintentional pun, Shino smirked as he downed another shot, slamming the shot down and leaning forward to look Augus in the eye expectantly thereafter. Likewise, Akihiro glanced at his fellow pilot with a raised brow, and at that, Mika shrugged before he replied.

"I've been working for someone. Things have been busy, very busy," answered Augus, short and sweet, prompting Akihiro to raise a brow.

"Huh. But didn't we die at about the same time… and in the same general area?" inquired Akihiro, raising a brow as Shino nodded a little, downing another shot in the process. "Wouldn't that mean that we'd come to Hell in about the same place, and at around the same time?"

"... Barbatos said he took my soul, so I guess that's why," said Mika offhandedly with a shrug, and right as those words left his mouth, Shino felt himself choke on his shot while Akihiro raised his brows in shock, with the former catching many a demons eye with his dramatic coughing fit.

As he recomposed himself, steam poured out of the centermost segment of Shino's _Flauros_ backpack while Akihiro's _Gusion Rebake Full City _sub arms drooped out of his back binders, with that being the most obvious indication of his shock, though before long, the two regained their marbles and calmed themselves down.

"A-Aight, so… lemme get this straight," began Shino, accidentally crushing the shot glass in his _Ryusei Go III_ hand before clearing his throat as he sighed, tossing the remains of the glass over his shoulder in the process. "When you died, Barbatos… _the _Barbatos, snagged your soul and pulled you to his massive palace and asked you to work for him?"

"Yeah," Mika confirmed with a shrug, not seeming surprised in the least that Shino had more or less guessed everything correctly. Norba, on the other hand, didn't seem too happy that he was correct, as evident by how he aggressively downed a shot from a new shot glass.

"The fuck, man…" mumbled Shino, slamming his head into the countertop as soon as he finished the shot and processed all that new info. Meanwhile, Akihiro simply shrugged as he poured himself a shot and took a sip, holding the shot glass between his _Rebake _fingers gingerly.

"Eh, I've seen and heard weirder," quipt Akihiro, shrugging as he downed the shot and made a face that showed that he really didn't like it. Placing it down, Atland sighed as Shino removed his head from the countertop and eyed Mika curiously, his apparent envy having disappeared by then as he rubbed his chin.

"So, erm, what's it like to work for a high ranking demon, anyways?" inquired Shino, smirking as he leaned forward to look Mika in the eye. Akihiro turned at that, seeming curious as well, prompting Mika to shrug. "Any good looking demons? Got any in bed?"

At that, Mika lowered his brows in apparent irritation before shaking his head. Good to see that he didn't change much, Mika supposed.

"Barbatos is irritating," explained Mika, surprising both Akihiro and Shino quite a bit, though they quickly went back to normal. High ranking humans were already rather pompous, with the most obvious case being _Jansley Dominikos_, and the two reckoned that it was the same in Hell, though it was probably worse down here. "The pay is good, though."

"Well least you got good compensation," quipt Akihiro, flexing the fingers of his _Full City _arm as he spoke. "The pay here is terrible…"

"Hey I think it's pretty good," argued Shino, holding a finger up as he smirked proudly, prompting Akihiro to roll his eyes.

"Try saying that when your job is to stop fights between demons, drunk or not, on an hourly basis," spat Akihiro with a frown, to which Shino laughed a little before smirking. Atland rolled his eyes, appearing rather irritated as he did so, though there was no real malice behind the gesture as the buff guy smirked not long after.

And at that, Mika couldn't help but smile just a little at this oddly… familiar setting. Though it wasn't completely perfect, the inclusion of Akihiro and Shino in his afterlife managed to fill a hole that was in his chest that was present ever since he got down to Hell.

A mildly noticeable yell from the other side of _Klub Kaiju_ interrupted Mika's thoughts rather prematurely, however, prompting him and Shino to glance at the source, an oddly grey demon with the vague appearance of a gorilla. As for Akihiro, however, he sighed and buried his face in his _Full City_ hand whilst his _Rebake_ hand clenched into a fist and slammed into the countertop in a fit of irritation.

"Great, it's _him_ again," grumbled Akihiro, sighing as he stood up and cracked his mechanical knuckles. That in itself was probably impossible, but hey, this was Hell, where the impossible seemed to happen all the time. Without much more than a snort, Akihiro walked off towards where the yells came from, with Shino and Mika watching as he did so.

"What's with him?" inquired Mika, unused to the sudden shift in demeanor, especially from Akihiro, prompting Shino to snort and offer a shot to Mika. Augus accepted it and downed the glass in a single gulp, only to spit it out immediately after, prompting Shino to almost fall over laughing.

"Pft…" snorted Shino, smirking as he made eye contact with Mika, where his smirk faltered when he saw that glare of his, prompting him to clear his throat awkwardly. "Erm, well, that guy Akihiro is approaching? That's _Leatherback_, a common patron of _Klub Kaiju_. He comes around often… and Akihiro throws him out _very _often for being a general nuisance. I know we're in Hell, and the two of us work in a bar, but we still have standards! Or at least me and Akihiro do. I don't think Otachi really cares about the place unless it directly affects her earnings."

Mika opted to shrug at that, having no real opinion on the business side of things. He much preferred to be out in the field rather than actually be behind a desk, something Orga could probably sympathise with back in the day. Regardless, the ace couldn't think much on that as he noticed Shino staring at him with a mild smile, prompting him to raise a brow.

"Shino?" muttered Augus, only to pause when Shino gently punched him in the chest with his _Ryusei Go III _arm. It was a friendly gesture, and Mika didn't think much of it until he noticed how Norba was staring at him.

There was a rather affectionate glint in his eyes as he looked his fellow pilot in the eye, and his smile wavered a little as he chuckled a little weakly. Opening his mouth, Norba attempted to say something, only to pause briefly before scratching the back of his neck, unsure of how to say what was on his mind. He did this several times, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to speak his mind. It became rather comical after the third time, though by then, Mika could guess what he wanted to say as he offered a lopsided smile.

"It's good to see you too, Shino," offered Mika, and at that, Shino chuckled bitterly before shaking his head.

"Yeah… it's-" began Norba, only to pause when the body of a smaller demon flew over his head and smashed against the wall behind him. Turning towards the thrown demon, Shino blinked before sighing in irritation. "Hey, we were having a moment here, Akihiro!"

"Oh, sorry!" apologised Akihiro over in the distance, holding the demon Mika presumed to be Leatherback above his head with both arms as he waved apologetically at his fellow pilots with his _Full City _sub arms. Immediately after, one of the sub arms swung off to the side and socked a demon straight in the face, most likely fracturing their skull in the process.

"Jeez, I know he's literally fighting some wankers right now, but he could be a little more considerate!" complained Shino as he waved a hand in the air, ignoring the small explosion when Akihiro launched a small missile from his _Full City _arm all the while. Mika's hair was thrown out of whack by the shockwave, though Shino remained unphased as he continued. "Ack, but either way, it's good to see you again, Hell or not."

"Ah. Things weren't the same in Tekkadan without you," admitted Mika, to which Shino smirked, though before he replied, the _Ryusei Go's _pilot raised a brow before he leaned forward a little to allow the _Flauros _cannon resting on his back to flip forward. Blinking at that, Mika leaned to the side to allow Shino to fire his cannon.

The recoil wasn't as bad as Mika had expected, though Shino did have to stabilize the cannon with his arms before taking the shot. Even so, his Galaxy Cannon found its mark, with the high powered, (presumably) Anti-Demon round removing a demon's entire arm at the shoulder before they could strike Akihiro with a chair.

"You're welcome!" shouted Shino, though Akihiro didn't acknowledge that as he pummeled Leatherback over the head with both arms. At that, Norba rolled his eyes and had his cannon swivel back. "Jeez, the nerve of some demons."

"Akihiro didn't hear you," defended Mika, to which Shino rolled his eyes.

"Not that! To use a chair as a weapon! The absolute nerve!" corrected Shino, with Mika rolling his eyes as he lifted his arm up to catch a glass bottle that was thrown in his general direction. Staring at said bottle, he noticed that it was half full and offered it to Shino, who shrugged and took it from Augus. "Psh, Vox Brand Alcohol. Not recommended. Tastes like static."

"Ah," was all Mika could say in response, unsure of how to respond to that due to him not being an active drinker of alcohol. He remained silent while he watched Shino lift the bottle up into the air, gingerly take aim and throw it towards another demon, clocking them over the head with it. "Nice shot."

"Thank you! Not everyone can sling a bottle as good as me, y'know?!" proclaimed Shino proudly as he snickered, only to blink when he heard the sound of a pile on. Turning towards the source, the two Tekkadan pilots saw that Akihiro was being piled on by several demons, though Shino scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"Should we help him?" inquired Mika, flexing his _Lupus Rex _claws as he spoke.

"Nah, it's their funeral for tryna dogpile Akihiro, of all people," assured Shino, and not a moment after, the entire dogpile exploded, with Akihiro emerging from the mass of demons that once piled atop him, looking more irritated then injured. "See?"

"Ah," was all Mika bothered to say as Shino snickered and took another shot. As he downed it, Norba vaguely heard the sound of metal impacting flesh multiple times and, before long, the sound of something large being thrown out could also be heard, prompting him to smirk as he lowered his glass, looking up just in time to see Akihiro slam the door to _Klub Kaiju_ shut. "Akihiro's done."

"Took him long enough!" proclaimed Shino.

With the big lug gone, Akihiro dusted his hands off and stored his sub arms back in their binders. After a quick crack of his neck, Atland got back to his fellow pilots with a somewhat apologetic expression, especially as Shino picked the demon that Akihiro had thrown towards them and held him up for the big guy to see.

"You could work on your aim," suggested Shino, tossing the unconscious demon off to the side as Akihiro held both hands up apologetically.

"I'll keep that in mind next time," assured Akihiro as he sat back down next to Mika. "So, did I miss anything?"

"Well no," assured Shino sarcastically. "You only interrupted a moment between me and Mika. Thanks for that."

"Ah… sorry," apologised Akihiro, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he chuckled. Before Shino could continue to berate him, however…

"Oi, Akihiro, why didn't you kill him?" inquired Mika, the curiosity rather apparent in his voice as both Atland and Norba looked at him in bewilderment.

"Why bother?" replied Shino, shrugging as he cleaned up the mess that was made after the demon had been thrown into his side of the counter. He didn't like it, but it was his job, and he was paid to do it. "He'll come back anyways, so it's just a waste of energy!"

"Come back…?" muttered Mika, tilting his head in confusion as Akihiro and Shino stared at him in bewilderment.

"You… don't know about that? How… you can't permanently kill a demon unless you're an exterminator?" muttered Akihiro, his voice showing his shock more than his expression could as he watched Mika shake his head a little. "Well… now you do?"

"Jeez. Barbs must be doing a terrible job at teaching you about Hell," quipt Shino. "Either that or you didn't listen… but either way, long story short, demons can regenerate damage overtime. Even if you blow one up into tiny bits, which, trust me, has happened here more times than I can count, they'll come back. I think the stronger a demon is, the faster the return process ends up. Don't you dare quote me on that during a test, though!"

"We killed Leatherback a good few times, but gave up after the tenth," added Akihiro, sighing as he brushed some blood off the gauntlet of his _Full City _arm. "Turns out, throwing him out of the bar is more entertaining."

And at that, Akihiro and Shino shared a quick laugh with one another, allowing Mika to process all that new information as he sighed.

'_So I guess that's why I've been seeing people that I've killed pop up more and more,'_ thought the pilot, only to shrug that off as he glanced at Akihiro and Shino, who were, in turn, staring back at him. _'Hm, no use thinking about it now. If they become an issue I'll just kill them again.'_

With that in mind, Augus harrumphed to himself, quickly ending that thought as Shino tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"So, out of general curiosity, what have you been doing recently, anyways?"

"Alastor hired me, so I travel with him."

And the shocked cry from Shino was so legendary that even from where they were, nearly two miles away from _Klub Kaiju_, Alastor, Niffty and Husk could hear him.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Mika had returned to the hotel that Alastor had booked for the four of them, and a quick glance at the king sized bed revealed that Niffty and Husk were already sound asleep atop it.

However, Alastor himself, rather unsurprisingly, was still awake, with his spindly figure being just barely visible, standing behind the only window of their room and gazing out at the 'night sky'. Well, night was putting it lightly, seeing as how Hell's equivalent of night was nothing more than a sky that was a duller shade of red, though it could be considered night in some way.

As he shut the door behind him, Mika caught Alastor's attention, prompting the Radio Demon to turn and make eye contact with the pilot. As per usual, Alastor's smile was present, and yet, there was something… off about it. It seemed less fake, so to speak, and a little more genuine.

"Welcome back, Mikazuki Augus," greeted Alastor with a dramatic bow, one that made Mika roll his eyes a little as he approached the Radio Demon, whose smile only grew in size as Augus closed the distance between the two of them. "I take it you enjoyed your little day off?"

Mika didn't know how to reply. All he could do was stare at Alastor with a mixture of thankfulness and suspicion. What was the guy planning…? Surely, he didn't just reunite the three Tekkadan pilots for fun, now… right?

Opening his mouth, Mika was ready to answer with whatever came to mind first, thought before he could, Alastor held a hand up to silence him.

"No need to answer, Mikazuki. We both know you're tired, and you need rest! After all, I have a few chores for you to work on tomorrow!" said Alastor, smiling as he patted Mika over the head and headed for the door.

Right before he could leave, however, Mika turned his head towards the Radio Demon and spoke up.

"Oi, Alastor," piped up Mika, prompting Al' to stop walking and materialize his Microphone cane, which seemed to be asleep before it was materialized in the Radio Demon's hand, and stare back at Mika curiously.

And the single word that left his mouth took quite a bit of effort for Mika to force out, though to his credit, he said it in a rather genuine way, and he meant what he had said.

"Thanks."

Right as that single word left his mouth, Mika turned away from Alastor, who appeared surprised by him being thanked for doing someone a favor, especially down here in Hell, so much so that his smile faltered just a little. Before long, however, the Radio Demon got over it and offered a nod as he clutched his Microphone Cane in his hand.

"Yes…" muttered Alastor as he took a step out of their hotel room, and though he was probably imagining it, Mika thought that he heard the distortion in the Radio Demon's voice disappear as he spoke.

"You're very much welcome, Mikazuki Augus."

* * *

**Well here it is. The next chapter. **

**Writing Akihiro and Shino was quite the experience. Shino was clearly the easier one to write, and admittedly he was the more fun one as well, though Akihiro was also quite fun to write as well. **

**As per usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Not much else to say… so… bye?**

**Oh and yes, those were Pacific Rim references.  
**

**Review reply time.**

* * *

**starscreamer11: you just got bamboozled. **

**Dead344156: well I'll try to keep up the apparent good work, my dude**

**coldblue2015: well firstly I'm glad that you seem to enjoy how things turned out. Secondly, I can't reveal too much since, y'know, spoilers, but Tekkadan will be part of the hotel in some way, and they will be butting heads with Exterminators **_**only **_**if provoked into doing so. That's more or less all I can reveal for now, I'm afraid. **

**King of 2211: who knows… **_**who knows**_**…**

**zeonstar360: a little wilder indeed**

**Guest: I do apologise that it isn't what you expect. I'm having my own take on demonic transformations, you see.**

* * *

**Anyhow that's enough of me rambling! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you guys next time!**

* * *

As he walked down the streets of _Pentagram City_, Mika sighed to himself, holding a smile back as he did so.

Reuniting with Akihiro and Shino was quite the experience, and it was sad that it had ended… though he supposed that it was to be expected. All good things had to end eventually, though it didn't mean that they had to end forever. Perhaps he could make room in his schedule to visit _Klub Kaiju _in the future.

Husk would love that, to be able to enter a club with benefits…

And as he thought of all the issues that cat demon would bring to _Klub Kaiju_, Mika failed to notice how a somewhat familiar looking figure was staring at him from afar.

The figure smiled as it lifted a hand up to its golden vanishen mask, adjusting it briefly before turning on its heel and walking off in the opposite direction to Mikazuki. As it walked, however, a pair imps attempted to get a jump on the figure from both sides.

Almost immediately, however, the masked figure raised both its arms up, revealing a pair of crimson shields. With a simple flick of his wrist, a pair of golden blades swung out of the shields, and the figure used them to slice both demons in half with a single swing of his arms. However, what he didn't foresee was for a third demon, this one much larger than the first two, to dorp in on the action, leaping up into the air in an attempt to pin the masked figure down…

… only to be foiled when a massive blade crashed down upon it.

"Brigadier General, are you well?" inquired the voice of the one who had saved the figure from its second assailant. As he spoke, the newcomer stepped out of the shadows to reveal a demon, undoubtedly a sinner, with bulky mechanical attachments coloured green and blue attached to his person. The sinner slammed the edge of his massive sword into the ground as he saluted his 'Brigadier General, who simply chuckled in response.

"I am, thank you for your assistance," assured the man whom the newcomer referred to as his Brigadier General as he reached his hand up to his mask and tapped a concealed switch on its side, causing the one way mirrors that were located on the eyeholes to flip away, revealing a pair of green eyes that shone like emeralds.

"I was simply a little taken aback, for I did not expect our paths to cross so soon…"


	12. A Reunion with Old Friends

Reuniting with Shino and Akihiro was certainly a blessing, though in a rather unfortunate twist, Mika was unable to make the most of it.

Though he was able to visit them from time to time, his 'occupation' as a contract killer, or a 'long distance hatchetman' as Alastor called it, kept him from doing so as often as he wished. Even so, the pilot was still mostly fine with the amount of time he was given to spend with his old friends… at least until the year came close to its end.

According to Alastor, or his talking cane at least, near the end of every year, around the October to December time periods, business would ramp up significantly, or in layman terms, the higher ranking members of Hell would send more of their killers out to get some heads or broker out some business partners and deals before the yearly extermination took place.

"_Let's just say that more than a few thousand demons are killed during the yearly exterminations! And, well… after every extermination, business becomes pretty bad, what with the culled population and all that," _was something the microphone had said once. _"So expect to work doubly hard near the end of the year!"_

Mika honestly didn't have much of an opinion regarding that topic. Work was work, after all, and though he had more things to do, courtesy primarily of Barbatos, who had rung up Mika more often for jobs, he still had _some _free time to spend with his friends…

* * *

**2 months before the yearly extermination **

"You know, I didn't think it'd be this easy, to kidnap the apparent lackey of Alastor, but here we are!"

As the puppet looking demon spoke, Mika simply sat rather awkwardly in a chair in what appeared to be an interrogation room. The pilot was tied down to it in a truly uncomfortable manner, and as he wiggled a little in it, he couldn't help but sigh.

Figures, he supposed. He was just trying to have a good time for once in _Klub Kaiju_, having been invited there by Shino after being put through the metaphorical grinder, courtesy of Barbatos and Alastor, only to be kidnapped by goons who worked with the Overlord, Velvet. Why they wanted to kidnap him was a mystery, especially seeing as how Mika was never instructed to attack any locations that Velvet owned, at least not in recent memory, and _how _they even managed to kidnap him was even more of one.

"You know, I wish he'd show more emotion, honestly," commented another puppet demon, slapping Mika on the cheek with his hand. Rather unfortunately for the demon, however, because of how he was a puppet, his slaps didn't do much to hurt the pilot. If anything he just gave the guy a few light taps, and for the most part, Mika seemed entirely uninterested in the whole situation as he listened in on the conversation. "Erm… why did we kidnap him again? It's not like he did anything bad to the boss or sommet, right?"

"The boss says that Vox and Valentino want a word with him, and half of his ass too if you get me. Honestly it's weird but hey, what can I say, the kid looks like a good piece of ass," admitted the first puppet demon, glancing at Mika, hoping for a reaction, only to be disappointed when he got none. "Jeez, look, the boss won't be here for quite some time, so what the fuck are we gonna do?"

"We could always try and remove those limbs of his," suggested his friend, to which the puppet demon shrugged.

"Yeah, sure, but-" was his response, one that was cut off when they heard Mika's Barbatos issued phone ring a little. They had stripped the pilot clean of everything that was on his person before restraining him for good measure, including his phone and jacket, and upon noticing the latter ringing, one of the two picked it up and held it up against his ear.

"Moshi moshi?" greeted the puppet demon politely, or as politely as a demon could anyways… only for…

"_EAT THIS YOU DIRTY FUCKERS! GALAXY CANNON!"_

And at that, the entire building shook with the force of a tidal wave. As for Mika, his brows raised high onto his head when he realized what was happening.

"Shit."

* * *

**Some time ago**

"Those fucking kidnappers wanna kidnap a friend of mine, eh?! Well tough fucking luck!"

As he said that, Norba Shino sprinted towards the building which was used to hold Mika. The damn blokes thought they could get away from him, eh? Well, unfortunately for them, the _Ryusei Go _pilot had pretty good spatial awareness despite what some may think, and that, combined with the bonuses that came with having parts of _Gundam Flauros _attached to him, heightened his senses enough to spot his old pilot friend be dragged out of _Klub Kaiju _and off to parts unknown.

It was rather amusing, all things considered, what with them just using some demonic energy to paralyse Mika from afar and lifting him up over their heads and rushing out of _Klub Kaiju_. Shino would've been lying if he said that he didn't laugh out loud upon seeing it unfold right before him, though after he had his laugh, the pilot was quick to rush after his friend and his kidnappers.

Though they had sped off by car, Shino was more than capable of keeping up with them thanks to his mechanical limbs, with him barging past whoever got in the way with little remorse. Sure it was rude, but politeness be damned! His friend was just kidnapped and he needed to fix that! That and this was _Hell_. Apologising for bumping into someone wasn't exactly you did down here.

Hell, if anything, Shino reckoned that him shanking a guy in the stomach with his forearm shield when he tried to stop him from sprinting after the car was more commonplace than actually apologising.

Before long, Shino trailed the car to a massive warehouse, one that looked incredibly conspicuous even in Hell. The place looked like an abandoned toy factory, one that was decorated with puppets… puppets that were bleeding, and an overall grim atmosphere that made Shino shudder, if only for a moment, before he sighed.

"Dear me, Mika. Why did you have to get kidnapped by Velvet's crew, Mika?" grumbled Shino, facepalming as he shook his head. He could tell that it was Velvet's place just from a glance, and though he didn't wanna touch the place, he did still have to save his pal. "Hm, going in is definitely a second death for me… and they probably won't give him Mika if I asked politely…"

And then he remembered his cannon… and he smirked.

Cracking his neck, Shino took in a deep breath as the cannon that rested flat against his back flipped up and over his shoulder. Norba held its sides with both his hands to steady it as he got down to one knee, knowing from past experience that he would need some stabilization before he fired this thing, and once he was down, a small 'canister' on his back shifted upwards and connected to the rear of his 'back cannon', locking in with a satisfying _cling_.

'_What did Yamagi call this again? A Pseudo Dianslief launcher? Electro-whatever cannon? Eh, either way, it's still my Galaxy Cannon,'_ thought Shino as he heard the electromagnetic charger on his back rev up. It was weird, having such an advanced piece of tech stuck onto his back, though he reasoned that it was less technology and more demonic magic that powered it as he shrugged and took aim, lining his shot up at the base of the building in order to maximise damage dealt.

Then he stopped himself when he realized… this was very unsportsmanlike for him to do!

Pausing briefly as he pulled his phone out, Shino casually dialed Mika's number into it before and put it on speaker. As soon as it was done, the young man hummed silently to himself as he waited for someone to pick up, and when they did…

"_Moshi moshi?"_

Shino's smirk was so wide that it threatened to split his face in half.

"EAT THIS YOU DIRTY FUCKERS! GALAXY CANNON!"

And right as the electromagnetic shell was discharged from his cannon… Shino realized that bringing the entire building down while Mika was still in it was probably a bad idea.

* * *

**Several minutes later**

"Look, Mika, I didn't mean it…"

"Yeah. I know. It's just hard to be happy when an entire building was dropped onto you."

As he stated his reason for being pissed off, Shino couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly. Sure, he did save his friend, but it was probably a bad idea to have targeted the foundations of the building he was in and bury Mika under several tons of debris. It definitely wasn't his intention, far from it… though it was what it was…

"How'd you even survive, anyways?" asked Shino, scratching the back of his neck as Mika rolled his gauntleted _Barbatos _shoulder, raising a brow as he glared at Norba, still having not forgiven him for dropping an entire building on him, though he still replied nonetheless.

"Demons are more resilient I guess," replied Mika, to which Norba shrugged.

"The other two didn't survive," pointed out Shino.

"They were made of cotton," countered Mika.

"Touche…"

And at that, an awkward silence stretched on as Shino whistled awkwardly while Mika just walked, seeming rather irritated as he flexed the fingers of his _Lupus Rex _hand, only to slap it when one of his fingers jammed up a little.

"Hey… would you forgive me if I got you an entire pack of raisins?"

"Maybe."

"Then consider it done! On the assumption that Otachi won't bite my head off for leaving my job, of course."

"If she does, I'll kill her."

"Or she'll take you and lay eggs inside you that eat their way out of your stomach."

"Do I look afraid?"

"...no. Heh, never change, Mika, never change."

* * *

**1 month before the yearly extermination **

"You know, I never thought you'd ask me to help out."

"And I never thought that I'd come down to Hell and become _Barbatos_, but there's a first for everything."

At that, Akihiro couldn't help but scoff a little as he raised his right arm up to block a swing from a baseball bat, which shattered against his _Full City_ gauntlet. The demon, a fish looking sonova gun, appeared bewildered that his wooden bat shattered against a metal surface, though before he could process it, Akihiro pummeled him in the face with his elbow, caving his skull in and sending him flying back.

"Yeah, there really is a first for everything, and all things considered, I guess I can understand why you need help? Breaking into a high security warehouse isn't an easy thing to do alone, and one that's owned by Velvet and _Baxter_ is another thing entirely" said Akihiro, raising a brow when he acknowledged how they had quite literally tore through an entire army's worth of demons. The pilot frowned a little at that, not exactly taking any pride in all the violence, though he didn't dwell much on it as he turned to see a large puppet based demon fire off a rocket launcher, sending the projectile soaring towards him. Akihiro winced at that before he leaned to the side and dodged the shot, only to raise his right _Full City _arm up for a counterattack.

Narrowing his eyes a little in concentration, Akihiro had the knuckle guard of his _Full City _arm flip out first and snap onto the back of his hand, and once that was done, the pilot twisted his hand down, causing a barrel to emerge from his right arm gauntlet. And, with another flick of his wrist, a small, unguided missile was ejected from the barrel, with a massive amount of steam being expelled near the back as it flew towards the large puppet demon, who didn't have any time to react before the missile impacted him and reduced him to a fine red mist.

"Ah. There were a lot of people to kill this time. Barbatos says that this job is from Lucifer," explained Mika as he used both the claws of his _Lupus Rex _hand and the sharp digits of his gauntleted _Barbatos _arm to slash at one of his opponents several times, ending his flurry in a double downwards, X shaped slash that sent him flying off to parts unknown. With that done, Augus ducked under a swing from a metal bat before he lunged up and kneed his attacker in the face.

Not letting up, Mika launched another kick with his left foot, ripping apart his opponent's stomach with the golden claws of his foot, before he leapt into the air and launched a roundhouse kick to the demon's face, and the moment the sole of his feet hit his target's face, Mika activated the pile bunker, and the result was something that even Akihiro flinched at.

"Lucifer? You've got some connections, don't you?" commented Akihiro, to which Mika shrugged before he blocked a strike from a sword that looked very much like _Barbatos' _Longsword from a demon. Narrowing his eyes at that, Mika seized the demon that was wielding the Longsword's wrist before kneeing them in the stomach, forcing them to let go of the weapon and allowing him to seize it. And, with it in his hands, the pilot began to use it as best as he could, with him delivering a flurry of messy yet destructive swings at his opponent, ending in a downwards slash that sliced them in two.

"Barbatos and Lucifer are friends I think. I don't care much about either, but I get a good pay bonus if I get this job done, and it seemed difficult, so I decided to ask you to help," explained Mika, short and simple as Akihiro pummeled a fish demoness in the face with his knuckle guard, caving her skull in, before he activated his sub arms to catch a pair of pufferfish demons who attempted to get the jump on him from behind. The pilot of the _Full City _raised a brow when he saw them puff up, though he didn't comment much on it as he had his sub arms fling them off to parts unknown. "There's something in here that he wants."

"And what would that be?" asked Akihiro, glancing over to see Mika using the sub arm of his _Lupus Rex _arm to shoot his pistol as he choked a demon in his hands. It was rather amusing to watch, honestly…

"Don't know, don't care. I just know Lucifer wants it and will pay a lot for it. So let's get this over with," replied Mika, to which Akihiro shrugged.

"Fine by me."

* * *

**Several long moments later**

"I think we got them all."

"You think?"

As Akihiro asked that question, with the sarcasm quite literally oozing from his voice, both he and Mika leapt off the cartoonishly tall mountain of demon corpses that had piled on during the past hour or so. They had quite literally fought and killed an entire army's worth of demons all in the span of an hour… more or less!

Sure, said army was very incompetant and easy to handle, though it was still an accomplishment.

"So… should we look for the thing Lucifer wants?" inquired Akihiro, to which Mika shrugged and looked around, only to raise a brow when he saw a conveniently located safe off to the side of the room they were in. Upon seeing it, the two jogged up to it and examined the thing. "Think it's in the-"

And Akihiro didn't even have time to finish that statement before Mika slammed his _Lupus Rex _fist into the safe, scrunching up the metal and allowing him to rip the door off.

"Subtle as always," quipt Akihiro as Mika reached into the safe and read the contents.

"..."

"So… what does it say…?"

"What the fuck."

And at that, Akihiro peeked over at the piece of paper Mika was holding… and he too found himself at a loss for words.

'_The specific spell you use to give sentience to plushies'_

"..."

"..."

"The pay for this had better be worth it…" grumbled Mika.

And to that, Akihiro readily agreed.

* * *

**A few days before the yearly extermination **

"Hey Mika, you've got a package!"

Raising a brow when he was called, Mika looked up from his _Lupus Rex _claws, claws that he was sharpening before he was called, and glanced over at the one who had called him, namely Husk. likewise, Alastor, who was sitting by the side, reading a book and drinking from a cup of questionable liquids, looked up from the literary disaster that he was scanning through and looked over at Husk with great interest.

Admittedly, both Mika and Alastor felt some form of shock when they saw what Husk was holding. As he had said, it was indeed a package, a massive one at that, with it being almost half as tall as Husk was. And, if the strained look on his face was anything to go by, the package was heavy as well.

"My oh my! This is certainly unexpected!" proclaimed Alastor in amusement as Mika raised a brow and got up to his feet, genuinely having not expected a package to be sent to his way as he did so. Glancing over at Alastor, the pilot raised a brow at him, only for the Radio Demon to raise his hands up defensively. "Now now, Mikazuki Augus. I'm as much in the dark as you are on who sent this package."

… well, though he didn't believe him completely, Alastor didn't seem to be lying, something that was a little assuring as he took the package from Husk's claws. Oddly enough, it didn't seem too heavy to him, though he did have mechanical limbs, so he supposed there was that…

"Well what the fuck are you waiting for? Open the damn thing," grumbled Husk, crossing his arms as he glared at Mika, who just set the package on the ground as he sat in front of it. As he lifted a claw up to rip the package open, both he and Husk noticed how Niffty was staring out at them from the room toilet with a curious expression.

"Open what? Oooooh… a package?!" proclaimed Niffty, going from shocked to excited within a split second as she smiled and rushed up to Mika and Husk's side, tossing a plunger up over her shoulder as she did so. Husk winced a little when the little gremlin quite literally slammed into his side, though he didn't comment much on it as he snorted. "Open it, Mika!"

"Ah," was all Mika bothered to say as he used his golden claws to rip the package open.

And when he saw the contents of the package… the pilot was quick to go silent as Husk, Niffty and, Hell, even Alastor raised their brows at it.

"I… don't really know what I was expecting, but sure…" muttered Husk in bewilderment as Mika grabbed the unwrapped 'gift's' handle and lifted it up to eye level.

"I'll agree with you this time, Husker. I wasn't expecting that either," admitted Alastor, sounded sheepish, or at least as sheepish as he could, as he smirked. Even so, Mika didn't acknowledge any of their comments as he stared at the gift that he was given by an, as of now, unnamed individual, and after some time, he couldn't help but snort.

"Cool…" muttered Mika, and not long after, his Barbatos issued phone rang rather violently, prompting him to answer it with a raised brow… and immediately, his eardrums were destroyed when Shino screamed at him from the other side.

"_HOLY SHIT MIKA YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST CAME IN THE MAIL!"_

* * *

**Some time later**

For the most part, Mika didn't like taking jobs when they were given to him by Alastor.

Simply put, the Radio Demon had a hard on for giving him absurdly difficult tasks to complete. Pitting him against an entire army was very common when it came to Alastor, and though he was capable of single handedly completing almost all that was asked of him… Mika would be lying if he claimed that he didn't struggle with murdering an entire army on his own.

Even so, from time to time, he would invite Akihiro and Shino along with him to join him in the hunt. Their help did make his jobs much easier, though not by much as two extra pairs of hands, or three pairs if one were to include Akihiro's sub arms, could only do so much.

Hell, a good example of how excessive these missions were could be seen now, as Mikazuki, assisted by Akihiro and Shino, with the three of them raiding a Vox warehouse at the behest of Alastor. On a regular day, Mikazuki would've called for help from I.M.P, especially considering how heavily guarded this warehouse was, and yet, today was different.

Why, you may ask? Well, it was because today was the day Mika, Akihiro and Shino were, simply put, rearmed with new gear.

"Show me what you can do…!"

Widening his eyes as his pupils dilated, Mikazuki rushed towards a demon with a massive greatsword in his hands. The sight of one of Alastor's latest lackeys rushing towards him was enough to make the demon pause briefly as he wondered if he should stay or run the fuck away, though the thing that really struck terror into him was the thing that Mika was holding off to his side as he charged at him.

To call the weapon he had a mace would be an understatement. The more appropriate term would be a massive, tapered and sharp slab of metal stuck onto a long metal pole, or, as Mika liked to call it, the _Ultra Large Mace_.

In his hands, the Ultra Large Mace was a rather light weapon, perfectly balanced and incredibly destructive. In short, it was just as powerful as it was when it was still a weapon that was used by _Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex_. Better yet, the Ultra Large Mace still retained all the gimmicks that it had back when it was still an Anti-MS weapon.

And with all that in mind, Mika narrowed his eyes as he tightened his grip on the handle of his Ultra Large Mace as he closed the distance between himself and his target demon, who readied a swing with his greatsword. As soon as he was close enough, Mika widened his eyes a little, and as if on command, the handle of the Mace lengthened itself, in turn extending the Mace's reach as Mika swung it at the greatsword wielding demon.

The full length of the Mace's handle allowed the pilot to swing the weapon at his target whilst also staying out of range of the greatsword, and with a single slam, the Mace sent the poor demon flying off to the side.

Huffing as he watched the demon fly off to parts unknown, Mika was quick to turn and jab the tip of the Ultra Large Mace towards a demon that was attempting to sneak up on him, only for said demon to catch the Mace by its sides. The demon had four arms in total, two organic and two mechanical in appearance, and he held onto the mace with all four of his hands as he offered a victorious smirk.

"I gotcha, bastard!" proclaimed the demon, only to pause briefly when he noticed how the spike on the very tip of the Ultra Large Mace seemed to be vibrating a little as he held onto it. The four armed demon seemed confused for a moment… though within seconds, his entire head was obliterated when the Ultra Large Mace's Pile Bunker burst forward and pulverised his head.

"Hmph," muttered Mika as he retracted the pile bunker and held the mace off to his side, raising a brow as he heard the sound of several ejected shells off to the side. That had to be Shino, Mika reasoned. The guy undoubtedly got the longer end of the weapon stick, what with his mystery package having contained not only the twin Assault Knives that were used by _Gundam Flauros_, but also a short barrel cannon that was also used by the _Gundam_ and a Partizan that was used by _Ryusei Go III_. The guy was practically a one man army by now, and Mika made sure that he stayed far from him to make sure that he wasn't caught in his crossfire.

As for Akihiro, however…

"Mika, watch out!"

When he heard the aforementioned guy yell out, Mika turned and saw him rush to his side and help him block an incoming missile shot from a bulky robot looking demon with a rocket launcher in place of his head. As the dust settled, Mika nodded towards Akihiro in thanks.

"Thanks," thanked Mika, only for Akihiro to grimace and look past him, and instinctively, Mika ducked down. His instincts were correct, as Akihiro was quick to swing the weapon he had in his _Gusion Rebake _hand off to the side, in turn striking a robot looking demon with knife hands in the chest with his weapon. "Thanks again."

"Heh, no problem," assured Akihiro, smirking as he ripped the blade of his weapon out of the chest of his most recent kill and rested it on his shoulder. Mika raised his brows when he saw that _Halberd _of his. The Halberd was, simply put, a scaled down version of the weapon used by _Gusion Rebake (Full City)_, complete with a telescopic handle.

Even so, that was not the only thing that Akihiro had received from his package from the unknown person. No, the other thing that he had gotten was the _Variable Scissor Shield_, which was latched onto his _Full City _arm. The Scissor shield was, like the Halberd, a scaled down variant of the one used by the _Full City_. Thus far, the guy hasn't used it in Scissor mode just yet, opting to use it as a shield until he needed to use it as a weapon.

"Hmph, jealous?" teased Akihiro, sounding rather playful for once as Mika raised a brow, not expecting that as Atland laughed a little, though both paused a little when they heard an explosion off to the side, prompting them to turn towards it with raised brows, brows which were raised further up their faces when they saw Shino be flung out of the explosion and land in front of them, with his two Assault Knives and Partizen landing not too far from him not long after. "S-Shino?"

"OH MAN THAT WAS AWESOME!" proclaimed Shino, smiling widely as he flipped up to his feet and dusting himself off. Once he was dusted off, Shino picked up his dropped weapons and offered a thumbs up. "These new weapons are something else, eh?"

"Ah. They make my job much easier," said Mika, nodding as he rested his Mace on his shoulder as Shino smirked.

"Yeah, it'll make my job easier too… though we should probably finish this one before we talk about future jobs, eh?" quipt Shino, smiling as he motioned towards a handful of demons that were still somehow alive in the warehouse.

And to that, Mika simply shrugged before he slammed his Mace down into the ground, cracking it more than it already was as Akihiro chuckled a little while Shino smirked and flipped his Assault Knives around in his hands, revolver style.

"Man, I feel bad for these fucks."

"And I never thought I'd be agreeing with you."

"Ye- wait what?! C'mon Mika!"

* * *

**A short while later**

To say that the entire warehouse was obliterated would be quite an understatement.

Though perhaps more so the fault of Shino, the complete destruction of the warehouse was not planned by any of them. Even so, they completed the job that was given to them, and as such, they couldn't really complain about that. Besides, Alastor never said that they had to keep the warehouse intact, now did he?

Both Akihiro and Shino seemed rather content with being able to relieve some stress with their friend, with Shino's smile being noticeably wider as he marched on while Akihiro walked a little more upright. Mika himself didn't seem to have any opinion on the whole matter, though it was nice to be able to use a weapon that wasn't his pistol for once.

"So, the yearly extermination's gonna be happening in a few days," piped up Shino, smiling a little as he stretched. Akihiro raised a brow at that before nodding, having been reminded at it, while Mika just shrugged. "It's a pretty weird way to handle the overpopulation issue in Hell, but it doesn't really matter too much to me. If any Angels try to kill me, I'll just kill em back."

"Ah. Angels are just demons but stronger, right?" replied Mika, raising a brow as Shino laughed at his pal, flipping his Assault Knife in his hand as he nodded. On the other hand, Akihiro shrugged as he cracked his mechanical knuckles.

"In a way, yes, but they're also specially trained to kill demons of all kind. We might be at a disadvantage if we fight them head on," pointed out Akihiro, to which Shino scoffed.

"Well, they've never fought Tekkadan, now haven't they? We've fought worse in the past, and even if they do manage to kill us again, we're not gonna make it easy for them!" proclaimed Shino, clenching his hand into a fist as he spoke. Akihiro chuckled a little at that while Mika just smirked a little as he shook his head.

"Ah. If they want to kill us, we'll make it difficult," agreed Mika, only for Akihiro to rest his Halberd against his shoulder and speak up.

"Considering how we've got these things now, I think that won't be _too hard_," pointed out Akihiro.

And to be honest, Mika agreed.

Having the Ultra Large Mace did make him feel just a little stronger…

* * *

**Yeah, basically filler. **

**But it was fun to write, and I hope it was fun to read! I'm sure all of you are tired of filler by now, but not to worry, the chapter after the next one will be getting into the canon at long last!**

**But until then, I hope you don't mind the (very) slow burn pace of this story. If you hopped off, I don't blame you… but if you're still here, then I thank you!**

**Now onto the review replies!**

* * *

**Dead344156: thanks! **

**Locke Lynx: well I believe I commented on how Alastor killed Bael near the first few chapters… so… **

**coldblue2015: firstly no probs! And regarding your questions, I think I kinda answered the one on weapons indirectly. Alastor most likely knows quite a bit through word of mouth, and Mika finding a love interest is unlikely but not off the table for now (wink). And thanks for the worry. You stay healthy and safe too!**

**zeonstar360: hey for all we know, Carta could've went to heaven… *cough***

**King of 2211: indeed it does!**

**starscreamer11: heh… I do have a thing for slow burns… **

**Vegeta-Lover27: well I'm glad you liked it, and here's more!**

* * *

**See you guys next time. **


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